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Quite frequently visitors ask for permission to see the whole Chase Manhattan art collection and are sometimes puzzled when we say that it is not possible to do so. The reason is that the collection, unlike those of museums, is basically for use rather than display. The works in the collection - now nearly 1500 - are scattered throughout dozens of floors in our headquarters building in New York and in some 20 locations overseas. Rather than being "collected" in the sense of being concentrated, these works have deliberately been dispersed to give maximum enrichment and decoration to the whole series of environments in which we and our customers do business.

When the bank began its art program in 1959, its objectives were limited to the decoration of certain key offices and areas. But the response of our customers and friends and of our own staff was so enthusiastic that it soon became apparent that the program could profitably be enlarged to include eventually all our places of business. 

I have used the work "profitably" deliberately, though perhaps it would be hard to justify on a dollars-and-cents cost accounting basis. On the other hand even accountants put a money value on such intangibles as good will, and it is the conviction of Chase Manhattan's management that in terms of good will, in terms of staff morale and in terms of our corporate commitment to excellence in all fields, including the cultural, the art program has been a profitable investment.