UNITED STATES CAPITOL: FRIEZE IN THE ROTUNDA

In accordance with a request received from Honorable David Lynn, Architect of the Capitol, the Commission of Fine Arts, during a meeting of the Commission held on February 26, 1953, visited the Rotunda of the Capitol to inspect the Frieze which has been in an incomplete state since the death of the sculptor and fresco painter, Contantino Brumidi, in 1880. Mr. Lynn stated that Congress had appropriated $20,000 to complete the Frieze, in accordance with Public Law 703, 81st Congress, approved August 17, 1950, as follows:

Public Law 703, 81st Congress, Joint Resolution

To provide for the utilization of the unfinished portion of the historical frieze in the rotunda of the Capitol to portray (1) the Civil War, (2) the Spanish American War, and (3) the birth of aviation in the United States.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Joint Committee on the Library is authorized and directed to provide for the utilization of the unfinished portion of the historical frieze in the rotunda of the Capitol, including the small isolated section added in 1917-1918, to complete the history up to the beginning of the twentieth century, including the portrayal of (1) the Civil War, (2) the Spanish-American War, and (3) the birth of aviation in the United States. Approximately ten feet of said unfinished portion next to the portrayal of the "Landing of Columbus" shall be used to portray the birth of aviation in the United States. The remainder of said unfinished portion shall be used for the portrayal of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. For that purpose the joint committee shall select a design, depicting such events, and shall employ such artist or artists as may demonstrate to the satisfaction of the joint committee ability to perform the work in a proper

manner.

SEC. 2. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated the sum of $20,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this joint resolution. Approved August 17, 1950.

Chairman Finley stated that some months ago Mr. John Walker, Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Art, was requested by Senator Green to advise as to a competent fresco painter to complete this work, and that Mr. Walker had recommended Mr. Allyn Cox, 135 East 40th Street, New York City. Mr. Finley presented a memorandum to the Commission, setting forth the qualifications of Mr. Cox, and the Commission concurred in his selection for this project. Mr. Lynn was advised accordingly.

KIT CARSON POSTAGE STAMP

The Commission of Fine Arts received the following resolution from the Governor of New Mexico, which was considered at a meeting of the Commission held on March 10, 1953:

A MEMORIAL

MEMORIALIZING THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, AND THE COMMISSION OF FINE ARTS TO CAUSE A POSTAGE STAMP TO BE ISSUED IN HONOR OF KIT CARSON.

Whereas, Kit Carson was a pioneer of the western part of the United States, an intrepid scout and a great patriot, and

Whereas, Kit Carson is worthy to be honored and remembered by present day Americans as a worthy example of devotion to duty and devotion to country,

Now, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO, That the Congress of the United States, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Commission on Fine Arts be and each of them is hereby memoralized to cause a postage stamp to be issued in honor of Kit Carson, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a duly enrolled and engrossed copy of this Memorial be transmitted to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States, to the Secre tary of the Treasury, to the Chairman of the Commission on Fine Arts, to each member of the New Mexico delegation in Congress, and to the Governor and the Secretary of State of the sovereign states of Colorado and Kansas.

Chairman Finley stated that, by letter of February 24, 1953, he had written the Governor of the State of New Mexico that the memorial resolution would be presented at the next meeting of the Commission on March 10th, and that he could be assured of the cooperation of the Commission in this matter.

A similar memorial resolution was subsequently received from the Legislature of the State of Colorado, and similar action was taken by the Commission with regard to it.

SENATE BILL 1109

At the request of Senator H. Alexander Smith, Chairman of the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, United States Senate, the Commission of Fine Arts, at a meeting held on March 10, 1953, considered Senate Bill 1109, "A Bill to provide for the establishment of a National War Memorial Arts Commission, and for other purposes."

The Commission noted that the Bill was similar to H.R. 452, introduced in the House of

Representatives by Congressman Charles R. Howell. The Commission did not favor the enactment of H.R. 452 to establish the proposed National War Memorial Arts Commission. In the opinion of the Commission, this bill, if enacted would have created a conflict of duties between the proposed Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts.

The Commission agreed to report to Senator Smith that they would prefer the enactment of H.R. 464, "To provide for the establishment of a National War Memorial Theater and Opera House," which was introduced by Congressman Kearns on January 3, 1953, providing for the erection of an opera house by the General Services Administration.

The Commission reported to Senator Smith, as follows:

March 11, 1953.

MY DEAR SENATOR: I have received your letter of March 2, with which you enclosed a copy of S. 1109, "A Bill to provide for the establishment of a National War Memorial Arts Commission and for other purposes," for the consideration of the Commission of Fine Arts, and requesting a report on the Bill. The Commission considered the Bill at a meeting held on March 10 and has asked me to make the following report.

The Commission noted that the proposed legislation provides for the erection of an Opera House in the city of Washington as a National War Memorial. This the Commission heartily endorses, as a community music center in the city of Washington is very much needed. The Commission assumes that, if such a building is authorized, its construction must be accommodated within the fiscal and budgetary policies of the President and that the administration of the buildings should be placed under the jurisdiction of an existing agency of the Government, such as the Office of General Services Administration, rather than under a new Commission to be established for the purpose.

The Commission feels that the best interest of the arts in this country would not be promoted by the establishment of an Arts Commission, such as is contemplated in the Bill. The Commission of Fine Arts was established in 1910 for the purpose of providing expert advice to the President, the Congress, and government agencies on questions relating to the fine arts. new Commission, with jurisdiction over many of the Government's art activities, is established, as contemplated in the bill, there would probably arise a conflict of duties which should, if possible, be avoided.

If a

The Commission of Fine Arts favors the enactment of H.R. 464, "To provide for the establishment of a National War Memorial Theater and Opera House, and for other purposes," which was introduced by Congressman Kearns on January 3, 1953, and provides

for the erection and administration of an opera house by the Office of General Services Administration.

I should also add that, in recent months, the Commission has been in conference with representatives of departments and agencies of the Government, as well as representatives of art organizations in the United States, on the subject of the activities of the Federal Government in the field of art. This survey has been made at the request of the President, who in January 1951, asked the Commission of Fine Arts to make such a survey and recommendations as to how these activities could be more effectively coordinated or further developed. The Commission has completed its report; and when it has been submitted to the President, I shall be glad to send you a copy, if you so desire, for your own use and that of the Committee.

Sincerely yours,

DAVID E. FINLEY,

Chairman.

Honorable H. ALEXANDER SMITH, Chairman,
Committee on Labor and Public Welfare,
United States Senate,
Washington, D.C.

GIFT OF A SET OF CHINA FOR THE WHITE HOUSE

At a meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts on March 19th and 20th, 1951, Chairman Finley reported that he had received an offer from Mrs. Ira Nelson Morris, 944 Fifth Avenue, New York, to donate a set of china in the same design as that in current use by the White House. The china had been used by Mr. and Mrs. Morris in the American Legation in Sweden and numbered several hundred pieces. The White House custodian stated he would be very glad to accept the china.

On motion, properly moved and second, the Commission decided to recommend acceptance of the gift. A letter of appreciation was sent to Mrs. Morris.

FREER GALLERY OF ART

Under the terms of the will of the late Charles L. Freer, all acquisitions by the Freer Gallery of Art, pertaining to objects of Far and Near Eastern Art, must be approved by the Commission of Fine Arts. During the period covered by this report the Commission has viewed and approved all proposed acquisitions, of the director, Mr. A. G. Wenley. An account of the collections of the Freer Gallery will be found in the reports of the Smithsonian Institution.

MURAL PAINTING FOR THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

At a meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts held on April 13, 1953, Mr. David C. Persina, Chief of the Division of Design, Public Buildings Office, General Services Administration, accompanied by Mr. Mitchell Jamieson, painter, presented a sketch by him for a mural painting in the conference room (the walnut room) of the Office of the Comptroller General of the United States. The sketch was executed on the scale of 12 inches to 1 foot; the painting will be 17 feet long and 15 feet high. It is to be about two and a half feet from the floor. The sketch portrayed historic scenes in Dare County, N.C., at the site of the first settlement in America. The sketch was approved. During a meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts, held on December 17, 1953, the Commission of Fine Arts, inspected the painting in company with the Comptroller General, the Honorable Lindsay C. Warren, who explained the painting as follows:

The mural depicts the restored Fort Raleigh, the cradle representing Virginia Dare (I wish so much the artist had put a baby in the cradle as I suggested);

copies of Governor White's drawings; the tree with the word CROATOAN; the Atlantic Ocean in a storm; the Dare County Court House; Kill Devil Hill and the Wright Memorial; the Oregon Inlet Coast Guard station; the Wright plane and first flight; a fisherman's cottage with the nets hung out to dry; gulls; a large piece of driftwood; shells on the beach; Pea Island Snow Goose Refuge; the ocean in a calmer mood with an old wreck on the beach; the wreck of the George A. Kohler, now destroyed; Jockey's Ridge and sand dunes; Pamlico Sound and fish houses and fishing boats; Cape Hatteras Lighthouse; sea Oats and willets on the beach. I understand that there is a well known Irish whisky named Jamieson. In the lower right hand corner a bottle is washed upon the beach and the artist has placed his name on it.

The Commission were pleased to approve the painting. Mr. Warren considered it a "fine piece of recognition for this great and historic section to be thus depicted in a large Government building, and thus forever perpetuated." The artist developed the mural from ideas of Mr. Warren and visited the scenes he portrayed.

In their report to Mr. Warren, the Commission stated, "It was a happy coincidence that the Commission could inspect the painting with you on the 50th anniversary of the historical flight of the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk.”

MURAL PAINTING FOR THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING

OFFICE

At a meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts held on February 3, 1954, the Commission was requested to recommend a painter to execute a mural painting in the Office of the Comptroller General of the United States. The Office of Public Buildings, General Services Administration, suggested the appointment of John Chapman Lewis.

Mr. Biddle said he inspected a portfolio of his executed work, and considers Mr. Lewis well qualified, and thereupon the Commission recommended his appointment. A sketch by Mr. Lewis of the proposed painting was subsequently approved.

At a meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts, held on January 28, 1954, the Commission inspected the painting in the Office of the Comptroller General, the Honorable Lindsay C. Warren.

Mr. Warren stated that he was well pleased with the painting, particularly so because it depicts the tulip industry near his home town in North Carolina; that the painting shows a 22-acre tulip field, from which 14,000 bulbs were sent to Holland following the recent flood there.

The Commission were likewise well satisfied with the painting and approved it.

PUBLIC BRANCH LIBRARIES

Ta meeting of the Commission of Fine

Α

A Arts, held on January 6, 1950, Mr.

Merrel A. Coe, Municipal Architect, submitted designs for three public branch libraries, as follows:

(a) Cleveland Park Branch Library; Connecticut Avenue and Macomb Street, Northwest: Mr. Coe presented a plan for a branch library for which the local citizens subscribed $30,000. The building will have an entrance and exit, with a control desk, a children's reading room, an adult reading room, and reference room, stack space, with additional stack storage and possible future extension on the second floor. The basement has been kept to a minimum, with a boiler room and some storage space. The exterior of this branch library will be in limestone, to harmonize with buildings that are near it. On the second floor there will be a display window.

The Commission considered the design, and suggested that the small window north of the entrance on the west facade be removed and that the decorative molding around the display window be simplified. On the south facade, it was suggested that the two windows be made similar in character, preferably with the introduction of mullions. Subject to these changes, the Commission approved the design.

(b) Benning Branch Library; near Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue, Northeast: The plans for the Benning and Anacostia branch libraries, which were submitted, are alike, and differ very little from the design for the Cleveland Park Branch Library. The exterior is to be brick.

(c) Anacostia Branch Library; at 18th Street and Good Hope Road, Southeast: The building is to face south and is to be in stone.

The Commission approved the designs subject to a few changes in matters of detail.

PUBLIC LIBRARY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

At a meeting of the Commission of Fine Arts, held on April 30, 1952, Mr. Merrel A. Coe, Municipal Architect, accompanied by Mr. Harry N. Peterson, Librarian and Mr. Alven C. Cheney, Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds, presented a design for a proposed new public library building at Ninth and K Streets NW., to surround the existing public library building at that location.

Mr. Peterson made a detailed oral report on the subject, in which he explained the need of a central library building at that location, in preference to completing the one erected on Pennsylvania Avenue between Fourth and Sixth Streets NW. It is proposed not only to surround the existing building at Ninth and K Streets, but to use the entire site, comprising two squares, thus eliminating the existing park.

The existing building was made possible by a gift of $375,000 from Andrew Carnegie many years ago; it was designed by Ackerman & Ross; it was completed late in 1902 and occupied January 1903.

The Commission did not approve the proposed plan and decided that it should have careful study before a report is made on it. There were several elements involved:

1. The idea of diminishing the area of existing park land was deplored. It is a Government reservation as shown in the L'Enfant Plan. In the center of the small park a building was erected 50 years ago, leaving considerable park area. Now it is proposed to cover the entire two squares from Seventh to Ninth facing K Street with one building, in the contemporary style of architecture, surrounding the old library building and in time demolishing the existing building.

2. The design for the new building was considered to be unsatisfactory.

3. The idea of abandoning the development begun 10 years ago for a Central Library at 499 Pennsyl