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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION  804
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necessarily the foundation of such a museum and expressed the opinion that the proposed Commission is ill-advised in view of the course of action that the Regents are pursuing in the matter at the present time. This view was concurred in by the Board.

THE JOHN GELLATLY ART COLLECTION.

The Secretary brought up the offer of Mr. John Gellatly, which had been made through Mr. Gari Melchers, Chairman of the National Gallery of Art Commission, and which had been favorably considered both by the Permanent Committee and by the Commission. He presented the offer in the following letters from Mr. Gellatly and also the resolutions thereon adopted by the Permanent Committee and by the Commission:

Hekscher Building,
730 Fifth Avenue,
New York City,
March 27, 1929,

Gari Melchers, Esq., Chairman,
National Gallery of Art Commission,
80 West Fortieth Street, 
New York City.

Dear Mr. Melchers:

Some days ago I made a verbal offer to you to give my art collection to the Nation, and I now place the offer definitely in writing over my own signature.

That is, if the trustees of the Smithsonian consider my collection worthy to be placed in its present complete form as shown in the galleries at the Heckscher Building, in a section of the National Gallery and accept the gift under that condition, the collection to always remain in the National Gallery complete as collected by me without alteration or addition.

I have been advised that as the collection is now arranged in the Heckscher Galleries it is more beautiful than any museum in Europe and has many more rare objects than contained in any European museum, and that my collection contains nothing other than master-pieces.

All this of course is for the Trustees to decide. I am only quoting the words of others.

To me personally what I have accomplished, however, and that has been my object, is to prove that the great American Renaissance 1860-1910 holds its
[[initialed]] CGA [[/initialed]]

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