Museums: Topping Off the Bequest

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When Andrew Mellon endowed Washington's National Gallery three decades ago, he provided $16 million for the building, plus paintings then valued at $50 million and a sustaining fund of $5,000,000. He laid down a firm condition: the gallery should not bear his name. In keeping with Mellon's magnanimity, his son and daughter, Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, last week topped off his bequest with an additional $20 million.

The money will be used to construct an adjacent building, completed by 1972, which will house a center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts as well as exhibition space and the gallery's art-extension service. President Johnson made the announcement at the White House. On hand were Chief Justice Earl Warren, chairman of the National Gallery's trustees, and Gallery Director John Walker. But in the family tradition, neither benefactor was present. Paul Mellon was reported traveling in England; his sister remained incommunicado in Manhattan.