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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

stressing that the importance of the sitter is the chief consideration, not the artist. Dr. Brown stated that one of the proposed conditions for exhibition is that no portrait of a person who had not been dead for twenty years would be permanently accepted with the exception of the President, members of the Cabinet, and officials of the Congress. The statement of criteria will be ready for the Board's consideration at some future date. Senator Anderson requested that the legislative history of the National Portrait Gallery be made available to Dr. Brown and the National Portrait Gallery Commission.

BIDS FOR REMODELING F STREET BUILDING (OLD CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION BUILDING)

The Secretary reported that the General Services Administration estimate of the cost of the remodeling called for in the plans, which were advertised for bids, was $4,829,000. The low bid was $6,549,000, so all bids had to be rejected. Steps have been taken to reduce the estimated figure by eliminating such items as the auditorium, cafeteria, and possibly the truck ramp.

Dr. Fleming inquired how large a staff would be required, and was told about the same size as the Freer Gallery of Art, namely, 27 positions for the National Portrait Gallery. Mr. Fleming felt that in view of this the elimination of the cafeteria was not too serious. Dr. Brown made the point that the building was to have dual occupancy by the National Portrait Gallery and the National Collection of Fine Arts.

Senator Anderson raised the question of why an auditorium was necessary. The Secretary replied that art gallery directors and curators like to present lectures about the collections, the changing exhibitions, and other subjects related to the objectives of the galleries.

In reply to the Chancellor's query about the kinds of exhibits in the National Collection of Fine Arts, the Secretary reviewed the existing inappropriate and inadequate arrangements in the Museum of Natural History for the display of its objects, where many fine exhibits were incongruously displayed in proximity to specimens of natural history.