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In addition, owing to the Art Gallery being commandeered in progressive stages by the Government for other purposes during the year, it has been necessary to make hurried rearrangements of exhibits and storage. Work has been done in connection with the safeguarding of the exhibits in the event of an emergency. Exhibitions of art collections from overseas which have been a feature of past years have had to be discontinued temporarily. All these adverse circumstances have interfered seriously with the normal activities of the Gallery, and consequently it has not been possible to make much progress with educational work. The Committee feels strongly that it is important that the work of the Art Gallery should be continued during the war period. The many thousands of visitors to the Art Gallery during the year is an indication that the public requires the educational and recreational facilities offered by the Gallery. In these troubled times they afford necessary spiritual relief from worry and stress and assist in maintaining public morale. In England, exhibitions and other art activities have been continued throughout the war even during the worst months of the " blitz." Exhibitions. An exhibition of reproductions of the French, British, Dutch, and Flemish schools was held in the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts Gallery during December and January. The exhibition created much interest and was well attended. The thanks of the Committee are due to the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts for the use of its Gallery. Proposed Exhibition of Work from New Zealand Schools of Art. During the year the Committee has considered a proposal to organize an exhibition of the work of students of New Zealand art schools. It is felt that such an exhibition representing the art efforts of the students of the Dominion would be of great interest and of considerable value educationally. The art schools in the four main centres have agreed to co-operate, and it is hoped that it will be possible to proceed with arrangements for holding the exhibition in the near future. Carnegie Grant for Reproductions. Previous annual reports have given full details regarding the grant of £2,000 made by the Carnegie Corporation of New York for the purchase of facsimile reproductions of pictures to be used for art education in New Zealand. A copy of the agreement drawn up between the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, acting for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Committee of Management of the National Art Gallery, covering the use of the balance of the Carnegie grant and the future control of the reproductions, was published in last year's report. Out of a further selection of seventy reproductions ordered last year, fifty were received in March, 1942, the balance being now unobtainable. Those received comprised reproductions printed in Holland, England, Austria, and Germany. The number of prints now in the collection housed at the National Art Gallery is 445. Under the agreement, £100 was to be made available to each of the other three centres —Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin--for purchasing subsidiary collections of reproductions to be used for educational work in their centres. These collections will be administered by the Auckland Society of Arts, the Canterbury Society of Arts, and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery Society respectively. They have been ordered, and some of the reproductions have been received. During the year, framing of further reproductions has been carried out and a catalogue has been prepared. Funds were made available from the Carnegie grant for the construction of travelling-cases for the reproductions, and some of these cases have been made at the Art Gallery. Owing to the difficulties due to the war it has not been possible to carry out a full programme of educational work with the reproductions. It is hoped, however, that it will be possible to increase this work in the coming year. Safeguarding of National Collection Pictures. During the year, on account of the increased danger of loss or damage of the pictures in the Art Gallery through enemy action, the Committee had to consider the question of safeguarding them. It was decided to send a large proportion of the works in the National Collection away from Wellington for storage where they are considered to be in a safer place. This has been done. Art Gallery Accommodation. During January the west wing of the Art Gallery and the tea-rooms had to be given up to be used for Government purposes. This necessitated a rearrangement of the exhibits on the east wing. Later the east wing of the Gallery was required also, and it was necessary to remove the exhibits from this wing. As practically the whole of the National Art Gallery was taken over by the Government, an arrangement was made with the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts under which selections of the pictures from the National Collection could be exhibited in the Academy's gallery when it was not being used by the Academy. The Committee desires to record its appreciation of the willing co-operation of the Council of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts in this connection. Co-operation between Art School and Art Gallery. In continuance of the scheme commenced four years ago, pupils of most of the Wellington secondary schools visited the Gallery in the early part of the year for the art appreciation classes taken in the Gallery on two mornings of the week by art teachers provided by the Wellington Technical College, it is regretted that the Education Board decided not to allow the fifth and sixth standards of the primary schools to participate, as it felt that the time occupied in travelling to and from the Gallery could be better occupied. Owing to the disorganization of the Gallery in the latter part of the year, it was not possible to continue the classes.

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