Until 1938, the capital of the world's richest nation had no art museum worthy of the name. In that year Financier Andrew Mellon gave the Government his $50 million art collection and added another $16 million to build a museum to house it. Today the National Gallery is one of the world's great collections, and, in large measure, the man who has guided its growth and controlled its quality is Director John Walker, 62, who last week announced his retirement.
A summa cum laude graduate of Harvard, Walker prepared for the job by...
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