Painting of the Corcoran Gallery, by Frederic Schuler Briggs, c. 1870. Smithsonian Institution Archives, negative number SIA2011-143.
Rothenberg, Marc, et al, eds. The Papers of Joseph Henry, Volume 11, January 1866-December 1878: The Smithsonian Years. Washington, D.C.: Science History Publications, 2007, pp. 471, 473, 474.
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1874, p. 44 (http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/7913096).
Summary:
Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry is elected to the Board of Trustees of the newly established Corcoran Gallery of Art. He would serve on a committee charged with developing the roles of the museum's director and curator. He would also be asked to help acquire art and the means for transporting works to the museum. The museum would open on January 19, 1874.
