National Gallery of Art Officially Created
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PrintThe National Gallery of Art, now the Smithsonian American Art Museum, achieves official status as part of the Smithsonian Institution. This occurs when the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia decrees that the pictures, miniatures, and other articles bequeathed by Harriet Lane Johnston should become the property of the National Art Gallery . Johnston's will left the collection to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, unless the United States government established a National Gallery of Art. The Smithsonian, therefore, formally establishes the National Gallery of Art to receive the collection. As a result of this decree, the collection, consisting of 31 pieces, is delivered to the Smithsonian Institution on August 3, 1906.
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
July 11, 1906