Kopper conducts us on an adulatory amble through the National Gallery's first 50 years, produced for the anniversary. This is history told through individuals, both donors--the Mellons, the Kresses, Widener, Dale--and professionals--architect John Russell Pope and directors David Edward Finley, John Walker, and J. Carter Brown--who created a museum of masterpieces. Kopper, who had access to the gallery's records and the cooperation of many about whom he writes, can tell a good story. There are a number of plates and illustrations of the collections, but former director John Walker's National Gallery of Art (Abrams, 1984. rev. ed.) is stronger in this regard. The visual interest here is the photography of building construction and of the individuals who left such bold marks. Kopper is more objective than Walker in his memoirs, Self-Portrait with Donors ( LJ 10/1/74), or Finley in his A Standard of Excellence ( LJ 12/15/74), but a full history of the gallery remains to be written. Still, this is an excellent book for general audiences.-- Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs.
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