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312:, which Mellon bought to complete his collection. He offered it to the nation as the nucleus of the National Gallery, together with the gallery building and a large endowment. The total gift was valued at $ 80 million, which would translate to perhaps $ 10 billion in current dollars – the richest gift ever from an individual to a government. After Mellon's death in 1937, Finley spent the next thirty years realizing Mellon's plans for the National Gallery of Art and his dream of a National Portrait Gallery and went on to many accomplishments of his own.
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523:. David and Margaret Finley presented one of the first pieces of fine antique furniture to the White House, an example soon followed by many other prominent Americans. When Finley resigned as chairman on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 1963, Mrs. Kennedy made him promise never to resign from the Association, which he led as chairman until his death in 1977.
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as ambassador in 1932-1933, Finley went with him on Mellon's private payroll and continued to work on the planning for the
National Gallery. Upon their return in 1933, Mellon was forced to spend most of the next three years defending himself, against politically motivated charges of tax fraud brought
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in 1962 and heading off many ill-advised projects such as the original “tombstone” design of the FDR memorial in 1963. Finley's dual roles as chairman of the Fine Arts
Commission and the National Trust for Historic Preservation gave him access to Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy. Jacqueline
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in 1949. As chairman of its trustees, Finley led the
National Trust through its critical early years, when the concept of the preservation of old buildings was considered a novel and radical departure from prevailing views. His matchless contacts enabled him to enlist national leaders in the cause
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During the Second World War, Finley led a group of
American art scholars and administrators who pressed the federal government to take steps to protect the priceless art works and monuments of Europe from destruction. Finley's skills in dealing with the government had been honed by thirty years in
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died just as the
National Gallery building was begun. It fell to David Finley to oversee the completion of the building and the opening of the Gallery in 1941. After being named director in 1938, Finley persuaded other major art collectors to add their collections to the National Gallery – notably
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As the eldest of eight siblings, Finley provided financial and moral support to an extended family in South
Carolina and elsewhere after his father died in 1917 and throughout his own life. In 1931, he married Margaret Morton Eustis (1903–1977), a Washington heiress, sculptor and architect, at her
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as chairman. Finley was named vice-chairman and actually ran what became known as the
Roberts Commission for the rest of the war from the National Gallery. He cut through the military and civilian bureaucracy to elevate the protection of monuments and artworks to a high priority, subject only to
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in
Washington, and made Finley his special assistant in that enterprise. Finley was particularly influential in Mellon's selection of art from the Italian Renaissance, which he began collecting in 1928 with a view to creating a collection worthy to be the nucleus of a great national gallery.
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In over 60 years in official
Washington, David Finley mastered the Capital's twin arts of the political process and social life. Quiet and soft-spoken with old fashioned Southern courtesy, he had a core of iron and was brilliantly successful in persuading others for the public good. As
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collections. Mellon had the wisdom to insist that it be called the
National Gallery and not bear his name, but it was Finley's inimitable powers of persuasion that brought so many other great collections to the Gallery in so short a time. Upon his retirement as director in 1956, the
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By the 1920s Mellon had become a major collector of paintings, principally Dutch, British and American and traveled regularly to England and the Continent, where he became familiar with the great public and private art collections and was a particular admirer of the
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Finley was a gifted writer and from 1913 to 1930 kept a series of journals that expressed his views on a wide range of personal matters and public affairs. These journals provide a wealth of insights into his early life and later career. Besides writing
279:, published in Mellon's name, which articulated Mellon's taxation and fiscal policies. By 1927, Finley was writing most of Mellon's speeches, policy papers and correspondence and had begun to assist Mellon in his art collection.
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by President Roosevelt in 1943 and served as its chairman from 1950 to 1963. Under his leadership, the Commission took a leading advisory role in many projects in monumental Washington, such as saving of the
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to champion their cause. Although wartime Washington had greater priorities than cultural protection in Europe, Finley persuaded the administration to appoint, in August 1943, the
254:. The Finleys had no natural children, but in 1935 they took into their home Renee and Joan Beauregard, the two orphaned daughters of friends, whom they raised as their wards.
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Bouvier Kennedy and Finley formed a powerful team for the promotion of good taste in monumental Washington and the White House and they became close personal friends.
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in Georgetown. In the narthex of the National Cathedral is a memorial tablet to David Edward Finley and Margaret Eustis Finley, “Servants of God in Art and Charity”.
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479:, but died before he could take any concrete steps in that direction. David Finley took up the cause and in 1956 when the federal government planned to demolish the
503:. Finley served on its Commission until his death, recommended its first director and with his wife gave it some of its first gifts of portraits and furniture.
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and the Commission of Fine Arts and himself an expert in the field, once put it, “If anyone ever knew how things get done in Washington, it was David Finley.”
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in 1924, he wrote virtually all of Mellon's speeches, policy papers and official correspondence. Late in life, he wrote and published histories of the
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149:(September 1, 1890 – February 1, 1977) was an American cultural leader during the middle third of the 20th century. He was the first director of the
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in 1913. He learned the workings of Washington working for his father's congressional committee from 1910 to 1915, and then practiced law in
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by the Roosevelt administration, while Finley continued to work on planning the National Gallery. In late 1936 Finley selected twenty-four
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378:. That standard established by Mellon and Finley has been maintained under David Finley's successor directors, John Walker (1956–1968),
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When Jacqueline Kennedy began to restore the White House in 1961, she enlisted David Finley in her cause. Together, they created the
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Andrew Mellon had acquired a major collection of American portraits that he hoped would form the nucleus of a future
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246:, at 3318 O Street, NW, where they led an active social life with political and social leaders. During
483:, one of Washington's oldest and most beautiful, for a parking garage, Finley as chairman of both the
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197:(1862–1917) and Elizabeth Lewis Gist, of a family prominent in South Carolina before and during the
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American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas
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In 1947, Finley convened 45 national leaders in historic and architectural protection at the
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and Ailsa Mellon Bruce. By the time he retired as chairman in 1962, the foundations of the
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A Standard of Excellence, Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington
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Standard of Excellence, Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington
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689:, National Trust for Historic Preservation and University of Virginia Press, 2006
374:. In 1973, Finley published his memoir of the founding of the National Gallery, A
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791:. Washington: National Trust for Historic Preservation. pp. 349–350.
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oversaw the rescue of most of the threatened artworks of war-torn Europe.
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when his nomination for that honor in 1973 died in the aftermath of the
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and his own years as its director. He received honorary degrees from
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Civic Art: A Centennial History of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
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717:, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
723:(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, 2013).
624:, which he attended while residing at his country home.
581:. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal by the
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could be favorably compared to the great art museums of
813:"Oak Hill Cemetery, Georgetown, D.C. (Chapel) - Lot 20"
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History of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
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military necessity. Acting in close concert with the
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United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I
589:’s Joseph Henry Medal in 1968. He just missed the
60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
445:in the United States had been firmly established.
382:(1968–1993) and Earl A. Powell III (since 1993).
632:Finley died on February 1, 1977, at his home in
923:Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)
888:George Washington University Law School alumni
738:, National Gallery Archives, Washington, D.C."
618:St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square
416:in the field, and similar Allied groups, the
267:In 1921 Finley joined the legal staff of the
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789:David Finley: Quiet Force for America's Arts
687:David Finley, Quiet Force for America’s Arts
308:paintings and eighteen sculptures from Lord
291:in London. In 1927, he decided to found the
271:where he came to the attention of Secretary
437:and to raise critically needed funds from
324:Finley together with Indonesian president
908:Directors of museums in the United States
132:For other people named David Finley, see
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
660:, Smithsonian Institution Press (1973)
559:National Trust for Historic Preservation
485:National Trust for Historic Preservation
434:National Trust for Historic Preservation
424:National Trust for Historic Preservation
238:family's country home at Oatlands, near
155:National Trust for Historic Preservation
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583:Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association
561:and of Andrew Mellon's founding of the
161:, a prime mover in the founding of the
455:United States Commission of Fine Arts
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536:, one of Finley's successors at the
391:Washington and he got chief Justice
229:afterwards in soldier reemployment.
58:adding citations to reliable sources
27:American cultural leader (1890–1977)
883:University of South Carolina alumni
517:The White House, An Historic Guide
513:White House Historical Association
507:White House Historical Association
453:David Finley was appointed to the
167:White House Historical Association
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269:United States Treasury Department
205:in 1910 and took a law degree at
898:People from York, South Carolina
850:
412:, which placed over two hundred
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829:from the original on 2022-03-08
622:Church of Our Saviour, Oatlands
551:Taxation, the Peoples’ Business
501:Smithsonian American Art Museum
414:Monuments and Fine Art Officers
277:Taxation, the People’s Business
165:, and founding chairman of the
153:, the founding chairman of the
45:needs additional citations for
918:People from Leesburg, Virginia
443:historic preservation movement
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913:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
763:"White House History Records"
610:Washington National Cathedral
591:Presidential Medal of Freedom
134:David Finley (disambiguation)
579:George Washington University
571:University of South Carolina
449:U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
221:, in which he served in the
207:George Washington University
203:University of South Carolina
201:. He was graduated from the
159:U.S. Commission of Fine Arts
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481:Old Patent Office Building
460:Old Patent Office Building
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787:Doheny, David A. (2006).
719:, Thomas E. Luebke, ed.
477:National Portrait Gallery
471:National Portrait Gallery
289:National Portrait Gallery
193:, the son of Congressman
163:National Portrait Gallery
515:which in 1962 published
491:, appealed to President
275:. In 1924, Finley wrote
903:National Gallery of Art
604:, Finley served on the
538:National Gallery of Art
430:National Gallery of Art
356:National Gallery of Art
316:National Gallery of Art
293:National Gallery of Art
151:National Gallery of Art
147:David Edward Finley Jr.
386:The Roberts Commission
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820:oakhillcemeterydc.org
575:Georgetown University
397:Franklin D. Roosevelt
332:In August 1937, both
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263:The Mellon Connection
223:U.S. Army Air Service
217:before and after the
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69:"David E. Finley Jr."
859:at Wikimedia Commons
493:Dwight D. Eisenhower
489:Fine Arts Commission
462:in 1956, preserving
299:When Mellon went to
54:improve this article
18:David E. Finley, Jr.
857:David E. Finley Jr.
736:David Finley Papers
715:David Finley Papers
653:, Washington (1965)
349:, Chester Dale and
306:Italian Renaissance
185:Finley was born at
694:2011-09-28 at the
636:. He is buried at
418:Roberts Commission
393:Harlan Fiske Stone
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252:American Red Cross
240:Leesburg, Virginia
199:American Civil War
175:Roberts Commission
157:, chairman of the
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855:Media related to
685:David A. Doheny,
656:David E. Finley,
649:David E. Finley,
638:Oak Hill Cemetery
370:and elsewhere in
351:Lessing Rosenwald
347:Joseph E. Widener
338:John Russell Pope
173:, Finley led the
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878:1977 deaths
873:1890 births
587:Smithsonian
521:White House
439:Paul Mellon
233:Family life
867:Categories
833:2022-08-16
773:2008-06-07
748:2008-06-07
672:References
634:Georgetown
620:, and the
244:Georgetown
181:Early life
80:newspapers
614:vestryman
612:and as a
600:A devout
595:Watergate
824:Archived
692:Archived
597:affair.
487:and the
368:Florence
287:and the
608:of the
606:chapter
328:in 1956
326:Sukarno
94:scholar
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372:Europe
360:London
301:London
258:Career
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827:(PDF)
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644:Books
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364:Paris
101:JSTOR
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577:and
567:Yale
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