Evening star., 1937-03-13
By Leila Mechlu.
S EACH successive step is taken

~ IlOnal gdlleTy OF ArL pnrOuRl
a the beneficence of Andrew w.
Mellon, interest and anticipation grow
apace. The building which is to bear
this title and stand on the Mall be-
tween Fourth and Seventh streets on
line with the National Museum, will,
1t is hoped, be begun this Spring and
be finished within three years, if not
sooner. AS every one knows. from re-
productions of elevations and plans,
widely published, this will be a one
story building, with a central unit
capped by low dome, and wings. The
architect, John Russell Pope, who has
exceptional experience In designing
buildings for art museum use, both in
this country and England, is said to
be OF the opinion that practically as
much floor area can be obtained in
a building with all the galleries on one
floor as in several-storied building be-
cause OF the exigencies of lighting. Also,
under these circumstances, all of the
galleries are equally desirable. A fea-
ture Of the national gallery of art, ac-
cording to the present plan, is the
prevalence of small rooms, especially
designed for the showing of small pic
tures. few in number but we'll spaced
In some of these galleries not more
than eight such pictures probably will
be hung, which will insure individual
inspection and to an extent eliminate
on the part of the visitor the customary
museum fatigue"-a kind Of esthetic
indigestion caused by overfeasting. But
feasts there will be and almost without
equal.
Mr.. Mellon has brought together In
recent years, through tireless quest on
his own part and that Of his agents,
. collection of superlative master
pieces. That he has made many and
notable acquisitions during the last
year Is not generally known. The Mel
ion collection, not including the his
torical portraits In the Clark collec-
tion, purposed as q nucleus for a ma
tional portrait gallery, now comprises
upward Of one hundred and twenty
items, each one of rarest quality and
worth. These alone will be suflcient to
fill the main section OF the new ma
tional gallery.
Originally the intention was to limit
The collection to paintings, but the op-
portunity to acquire the famous Drey-
fus collection OF Renaissance sculpture
induced change OF plan in this par
ticular-and happily. Seen together,
these sculptures and paintings OF the
period enhance each others effective
ness. And what is more, give a better
idea Of the ideals and achievements Of
the artists Of the Renaissance than
could be given by works in a single
medium. These sculptures also are su-
perb, and once seen, profoundly mem
orable.
IT Is an amazing thing that the
works wrought by the artists of the
Renaissance, which reach so great q
height as measured by the achievement
OF others, are apparently so simple and
At the same time so deeply moving
And furthermore, although the paint
ers and sculptors would seem to have
striven modestly to obliterate them
selves, never emphasizing their individ-
ualities, yet their works are intensely
personal. And how perfect they are
and with what evident effort these
artists endeavored to render true tran
scriptions of actualities.
Perhaps the earliest work in the
Mellon collection is a painting by
Cimabue, a Florentine, whose dates
are l240 to 1902. II is presumably
an over-alter piece depicting saints
IN colorful robes on gold back
ground, and its almost perfect state
OF preservation seems nothing less
than miraculous. Most lovely. how
ever is an exquisite Madonna by Fra
Angelica, the Holy Mother in robes OF
heavenly light blue, which is among
the recent acquisitions. The Virgin
is depicted as seated upon the ground
IN an attitude of deep humility hel
hands are crossed on her breast, the
Child lies on her lap; behind is q
background of figured brocade upheld
by two angels who peep over the
corners
A delightful and remarkable fea.
ture OF the Mellon collection is 1t.
group OF little portraits--for instance
the fascinating little head with in.
scription) OF Prince Edward, by Hol.
bein-and the enhancing portrait
OF Sir Brian Tuke--a great example
OF this very great artists work. Their
there Is the famous Van der Weyden
woman in White" so superbly cor.
rect-and lovely Young Woman
by Vermeer, whose least production
has the magic touch which allure,
and illumines. But what could b.
finer than Durer's little Portrait O,
. Man"
When all works are superlative
there Is no distinction in rank, merel,
variety in style and manner There.
fore Of practically equal interest ar,
the small portraits lately added O
"Lsotta Malatesta da Rimini,p b,
Pisanello, and of "A Young Man" b,
Botticelli. There are no less thar
three paintings by the last-namet
painter in this collection-the TIVE
others being the world-famous "Adora
ton OF the Magi" and very charm
Ing Madonna and Child" mos
typically Botticellian.