Evening star., 1948-04-07

A national Gallery OF Art at
traction that has drawn twice as
many Sunday spectators as could
at into Griffith Stadium finds ex-
perts here torn between cultural
desire to send the show on tour
and a practical fear Of heavy risks.
Washington museum curators and
Army officials regard the German
exhibition of 202 paintings both as
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
and a hot potato.
Those who know good picture
when they see it, and those en-
trusted with preserving and pro-
tecting this display, conservatively
estimated at an insurance value
of $80000,0o0, agree that Americans
all over the country ought to and
want to look at the masterpieces.
For the most part, they believe a
nationwide tour would help Ameri-
can appreciation Of art but hurt
the art treasures themselves
No Question Of Demand.
There Is no question about public
demand, National Gallery Of Art
officials say.
During the first 81 days OF the
showing at the National Gallery,
437,969 persons came in. Last Sun
days attendance was 62,983. On
the previous Sunday, the turnout
was 35,593. The peak weekday at
tendance thus far was 32,915 last
Saturday.
1.-THE lines have been as long as
at q baseball game" gallery Off
cial commented.
In fact, they have been longer
Griffith Stadium can pack In about
$4,000 fans for baseball and more
than $1,000 for football
The daily average at the gallery
has been more than 10000. Pre-
viously the all-time high for one
day was $4,000.
The exhibition is scheduled to
continue through April ID.
Bill Calls for Tour.
Possibility of a Nationwide tour
gained ground recently when Sen
ator Fulbright, Democrat, of Ar
kansas introduced a bill to trans
fer custody of the paintings from
the Army to the National Gallery
trustees. The trustees could de-
eide whether a tour would be prac-
tical. ...
Officers of the National Gallery,
the National Collection of Art at
the National Museum and the F'reer
Gallery said that, in view of their
positions, they preferred not to
comment on the bill or the advisa-
bility Of tour.
"The main argument for such a
tour is that the American people
obviously want to see the paint
ings," one official remarked. THE
exhibition Is the most unusual of
It's kind ever held in Washington
and news of it, of course, has spread
to all parts of the country. The
demand has snowballed."
Romantic Story.
One reason for the popularity of
the exhibition, he said, was the
romantic" story Of the paintings
that were taken from the Kaiser
Friedrich Gallery in Berlin during
the war and stored in salt mine
where they were found in April,
1945, by the American troops. The
paintings are to be returned even
tually to Germany, but Senator
Fulbright and others believe the
return should be delayed until their
safety can be assured in that coun-
try.
Herman Williams, director Of the
Corcoran Art Gallery, spoke out
roundly against the proposed tour.
ITO send the whole group of
paintings around the country and
expose them to constant packing
and unpacking would be almost
criminal" he declared. There
would almost certainly be some
damage"
Train vibration, Mr.. Williams ex-
planned, might loosen old pigments,
and temperature and humidity
changes could be ruinous. :.
A Freedom Train" arrange
ment might prove practical for
safeguarding the paintings, but
conditions would be unfavorable for
viewing pictures on comparatively
cramped train car walls, he said.
Should Assure Germans.
A representative Of another large
museum here said he is confident
that the paintings would be okay
IF packed under the supervision of
National Gallery of Art experts.
II agree with a recent suggestion