Evening star., 1950-07-02
q IT
Makers Of History
IN Washington
On Exhibition
At NotionuI
By Florence S. Berymon

By Florence S. Berymon
An impressive procession Of
Makers Of History in Washing
ton. 1soo-l950" just opened at the
National Gallery Of Art. viii en-
able Neutrality-suspicious. and visitors
for the next i've months. to be-
come acquainted with l4S men
and women who have contributed
to the development Of the United
States Capital City. Sirnultan-
eously. the exhibition opens eight
new rooms in the gallery (and ex-
tends through three older rooms). !.
There are 1873 paintings and 5
sculptures.
The exhibition was assembled
with funds provided by the Ma
tional Capital Sesquicentennial
Commission. as part Of the cele-
bration OF the founding Of the City
OF Washington. Special assistance
was rendered by Carter Barron
and Edward Boykin of the COM
mission.
Seen as a "fait accompli," this
Sesquicentennial show probably
does not reveal to the average per-
son, the knowledge, planning, CO.
operation, transportation, install
lation and time involved. A year
and a half were required to bring
1t to completion. Sixty-six art
museums. historical associations,
Federal. State and municipal de-
partments. colleges and UNIVERSE
ties and private organizations and
individual collectors lent one or
more portraits each. The loans
came from q region extending
from New England to Mississippi.
from the Middle West to the At
lantic coast.
White House Portroits Shown
| Twenty-Five Of the lenders are
in Washington. BY courtesy of
the President and Mrs. Truman,
the entire collection Of the White
House portraits are here, with
which and with others borrowed
for the occasion, there is on view
complete collection of portraits
OF the Presidents Of the United
States. Not all the Presidents
wives were available. but a good
many are in the show. Nor was
it possible to include portraits of
all Vice Presidents and Speakers
Of the House of Representatives
as many could not be removed
from the Capitol where they are
permanently installed as part
Of the decoration. The portrait
of Uncle Joe" Cannon. lent by
the House Committee on Appro-
priations. is the only picture from
the Hill.
The portraits have been ar
ranged more or less In cnronologi-
cal order. but not slavishly so.
The persons represented are gem
Ierally shown with others in the
administration with which they
are identified. or In the decade in
which they were most prominent,
although adherence to this rule is
not complete. AS the gallery
points out. Calhoun, Clay and
Webster are shown with the ad-
ministrations Of Presidents Madi-
son. Monroe. John Quincy Adams
and jackson. although the three
statesmen were more famous In a
later. more bitter period of their
careers.
The exhibition includes portraits
Iof eminent persons who were
leaders in the founding and de-
velopment of the City of Washing
ton or had important roles in his
toricai events here. Some of those
who affected most directly the
city's development are relatively
unknown to the general public, as
compared with those whose great
historical roles were acted against
the city as backdrop. In some
instances, the parsonage fits into
both pigeon-holes.
For example, the exhibition
begins in a small octagonal gall
lery (newl with the National
Gallery's great Stuart portrait Of
George Washington, Thomas JET
ferson "a young. romantic por-
trait by Mather Brown and Alex
ander Hamilton by Trumbull.
Hamilton is included because of
the part he played in selecting the
site Tan astute political trade)
but his portrait is properly shown
with those immortal because of
their far greater work of founding
the Republic and organizing the
Government in its early years.
Architects, Artists and Planners
Washington was prominent in
both capacities, so two of his por-
traits are included, the second
part Of the large Washington fam
lily group by Savage, meditating on
the L'Enfant plan for the city
which is shown on the table in the
picture. This portrait is one Of
IL assembled in large gallery II,
devoted to those whose work was
primarily concerned with the de-
|velopment Of the city.
This room of architects, artists
-