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Other details of the Ranger will are interesting. Henry Ranger, who worked long and hard for what he made, was less interested in providing opportunities for youth than most philanthropists. One clause of the will provides that two-thirds of the paintings must be purchased from artists over 45 years of age.
A committee of 14 Academicians selects and distributes the pictures annually. None of their own canvases are eligible. A museum wishing to benefit from the Ranger largesse must apply to this committee, explaining what sort of a museum it is, what is already in its collection, why it wants another picture, and, most important, telling whether its building is fireproof and insured. The omnipotent Ranger Fund committee investigates, decides what sort of a picture to send the humble applicant. Since 1919 they have distributed 95 canvases and evolved two rules not expressly stated in the will: 1) whenever possible, to send the work of an artist not otherwise represented in a collection; 2) to send the work of artists from one part of the U. S. to another part of the country.