The gallery is located on the south side of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., contiguous with the Sackler Gallery. The museum is open 364 days a year (being closed on Christmas), and is administered by a single staff with the Sackler Gallery. The galleries were among the most visited art museums in the world.
The museum offers free tours to the public and presents a full schedule events for the public including films, lectures, symposia, concerts, performances, and discussions. Over 11,000 objects from the Freer|Sackler collections are fully searchable and available online.[3] The Freer was also featured in the Google Art Project, which offers online viewers close-up views of selected items from the Freer.[4]
History
Entrance to the Freer Gallery of Art
Founding
The gallery was founded by Detroit railroad-car manufacturer and self-taught connoisseur Charles Lang Freer. He owned the largest collection of works by American artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) and became a patron and friend of the famously irascible artist. Whistler made it very clear to Freer that if he helped him to build the premier Whistler collection, then that collection would have to be displayed in a city where tourists went.[5]
In 1908, Charles Moore, a former aide to Michigan United States Senator, James McMillin and the chairman of the United States Commission of Fine Arts, moved from Washington, D.C., to Detroit. Moore became friends with Freer, who was director of the Michigan Car Company, and persuaded Freer to permanently exhibit his 8,000-piece collection of Oriental art in Washington, D.C. Before then, Freer informally proposed to President Theodore Roosevelt that he give to the nation his art collection, funds to construct a building, and an endowment fund to provide for the study and acquisition of "very fine examples of Oriental, Egyptian, and Near Eastern fine arts."[6]
The Freer gift was accepted on behalf of the government by the Smithsonian Board of Regents in 1906. Freer's will, however, contained certain requirements that only objects from the permanent collection could be exhibited in the gallery, and that none of the art could be exhibited elsewhere. Freer felt strongly that all of the museum's holding should be readily accessible to scholars at all times. In addition, Freer's bequest to the Smithsonian came with the proviso that he would execute full curatorial control over the collection until his death. The Smithsonian initially hesitated at the requirements but the intercession of President Theodore Roosevelt allowed for the project to proceed. The Freer Gallery possesses an autographed letter from Roosevelt inviting Freer to visit him at the White House, reflecting the personal interest Roosevelt showed in the development of the museum. Freer died before the art gallery was completed.[citation needed]
Construction and architecture
Drawing of the North Elevation
Construction of the gallery began in 1916 and was completed in 1921, after a delay due to World War I.[7] On May 9, 1923, the Freer Gallery of Art was opened to the public. Designed by American architect and landscape planner Charles A. Platt, the Freer is an Italian Renaissance-style building inspired by Freer's visits to palazzos in Italy.[8] It is reported that in a meeting with architect Charles Platt at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, Freer jotted down his ideas for a classical, well-proportioned building on a napkin.[9] The gallery is constructed primarily of granite: the exterior of the Freer is pink granite quarried in Milford, Massachusetts, the courtyard has a carnelian granite fountain and walls of unpolished Tennessee white marble. The gallery's interior walls are Indiana limestone, and the floors are polished Tennessee marble.[citation needed]
A major renovation of the building, which culminated in a grand reopening in 1993, greatly expanded storage and exhibition space by connecting the Freer and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. With the addition of the connecting gallery, the Freer has 39,039 square feet (3,626.8m2) of public space. The original structure designed by Platt remains intact, including the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Auditorium which serves as the venue for many public programs.[citation needed]
Current
After opening in 1923, the Freer served as the Smithsonian's first museum dedicated to the fine arts.[10] The Freer was also the first Smithsonian museum created from a private collector's bequest. Through the years, the collections have grown through gifts and purchases to nearly triple the size of Freer's original donation: nearly 18,000 works of Asian art have been added since Freer's death in 1919.[citation needed]
The Freer is now connected by an underground exhibition space to the neighboring Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Although their collections are stored and exhibited separately, the two museums share a director, administration, and staff. The Freer closed for extensive renovations in January 2016 and reopened in October 2017.[11]
Because one of the main conditions of Charles Lang Freer donation stated that only items from his collection may be exhibited at the gallery, the Freer does not borrow from or lend out items to other institutions. However, due to the 26,000 objects in the gallery's collections, they are still able to present exhibitions internationally recognized for both depth and quality.
The Freer also has a number of rotating/temporary exhibits.
American art at the Freer
The Peacock Room by Whistler
Freer began collecting American art in the 1880s.[9] In 1890, after meeting James Abbott McNeill Whistler, an American artist influenced by Japanese prints and Chinese ceramics, Freer began to expand his collections to include Asian art. He maintained his interest in American art, however, amassing a collection of over 1,300 works by Whistler, which is considered the world's finest.[citation needed]
One of the most well-known exhibits at the Freer is The Peacock Room, an opulent London dining room painted by Whistler in 1876–77. The room was designed for British shipping magnate F. R. Leyland[12] and is lavishly decorated with green and gold peacock motifs. Purchased by Freer in 1904 and installed in the Freer Gallery after his death, The Peacock Room is on permanent display.[13] During its time in the Freer Gallery, the Peacock Room underwent large-scale conservation projects in the 1940s and the early 1990s, and a major restoration in the summer of 2022.[14]
The Freer|Sackler provides several online resources for exploring the art and culture of Asia and its American art collections. Besides the collections objects viewable online, thousands of photographs, archeological diaries, maps, and archaeological squeezes (impressions of carvings) have been digitized and are used by researchers from around the world.
F|S Archives and Library
This earthenware dish from 9th century Abbasid, Iraq is one of the many artifacts exhibited at the Freer Gallery.
The Freer Sackler Archives[16] houses over 120 important manuscripts collections relevant to the study of America's encounter with Asian art and culture. The core collection is the personal papers of gallery founder Charles Lang Freer, which includes his purchase records, diaries, and personal correspondence with public figures such as artists, dealers and collectors. Freer's extensive correspondence with James McNeill Whistler forms one of the largest sources of primary documents about the American artist. Other significant collections in the Archives includes the papers (notebooks, letters, photography, squeezes) and personal objects of the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld (1879–1946), documenting his research at Samarra, Persepolis and Pasargadae. The papers of Carl Whiting Bishop[17]Dwight William Tryon, Myron Bement Smith,[18]Benjamin March[19] and Henri Vever[20] are also located at the Archives. The Archives also holds over 125,000 photographs of Asia dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Highlights of photographic holdings include the Henry and Nancy Rosin Collection of 19th century photography of Japan,[21] the 1903-1904 photographs of the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi, and photographs of Iran by Antoin Sevruguin.[22]
The Freer|Sackler Library is the largest Asian art research library in the United States. Open to the public five days a week (except federal holidays) without appointment, the library collection consists of more than 86,000 volumes, including nearly 2,000 rare books. Half the volumes are written and catalogued in Asian languages. Originating from the collection of four thousand monographs, periodical issues, offprints, and sales catalogues that Charles Lang Freer donated to the Smithsonian Institution as part of his gift to the nation, the F|S Library maintains the highest standards for collecting materials an active program of purchases, gifts, and exchanges.[citation needed]
In July 1987 the library moved to its new home in the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Today it supports activities of both museums, such as collection development, exhibition planning, publications, and other scholarly and educational projects. Its published and unpublished resources—in the fields of Asian art and archaeology, conservation, painting, sculpture, architecture, drawings, prints, manuscripts, books, and photography—are available to museum staff, outside researchers, and the visiting public.[citation needed]
Public programs
The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Auditorium, named after American financier and publisher Eugene Meyer and journalist/social activist Agnes E. Meyer, is located in the Freer and provides a venue for a broad variety of free public programs. These programs include concerts of music and dance, lectures, chamber music, and dramatic presentations. It is also known for its film series, highlighting a wide variety of Asian cultures (including a Korean Film Festival and Iranian Film Festival).[citation needed]
Most recently, the museums began the series Asia After Dark, opening up the space for musicians, dancing, Asian cuisine, and other after-work adventures. The Freer and Sackler's 'We Stand With Japan' in 2011 hosted Steve Aoki.[23]
Free drop-in tours are available daily and guide visitors through both featured exhibitions and specific themes in both the Freer and Sackler galleries, and a wide range of public lectures provide in-depth experiences with prominent artists and scholars.[citation needed]
Conservation
Care of the collections began before the museum came into existence as Charles Lang Freer, the founder of the Freer Gallery of Art, hired Japanese painting restorers to care for his works and to prepare them for their eventual home as part of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1932, the Freer Gallery of Art hired a full-time Japanese restorer and established what was to become the East Asian Painting Conservation Studio. This facility remains one of the few in the United States that specializes in the conservation of Asian paintings.[7] The Technical Laboratory was established in 1951 when chemist Rutherford J. Gettens moved from the Fogg Museum at Harvard University to the Freer. The laboratory was the first Smithsonian facility devoted to the use of scientific methods for the study of works of art. Over the years, the work of the Technical Laboratory expanded to include objects, paper, and exhibits conservation. The Technical Laboratory and the East Asian Painting Conservation Studio merged in 1990 to create the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research for both the Freer and Sackler Galleries.[24]
The conservators in the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research care for and treat works of art in the collection and prepare them for exhibition. The department works to ensure long-term preservation and storage, safe handling, exhibition, and transport of artworks in the permanent collection, as well as those on loan. In addition, conservators are responsible for conducting technical examinations of objects already in the collection and those under consideration for acquisition. They also collaborate frequently with the department's scientists on technical and applied research. Training and professional outreach efforts are an integral part of the department's commitment to educating future conservators, museum professionals, and the public about conservation.[citation needed]
Scholarship
The Freer has had a long tradition in serving as a center for inquiry and advanced scholarship about Asia. The Freer not only presents lectures and symposia to the public, but it also copublishes the Ars Orientalis with the University of Michigan Department of History of Art. Ars Orientalis is a peer-reviewed annual volume of scholarly articles and occasional reviews of books on the art and archaeology of Asia, the ancient Near East, and the Islamic world.[25][26]
The Freer and Sackler, along with the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies in Kyoto, Japan, presents the Shimada Prize for distinguished scholarship in the history of East Asian art. The award was established in 1992 in honor of Professor Shimada Shujiro, by the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and by The Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies in Kyoto, Japan. Several fellowships are also available to support graduate students and visiting scholars, including the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship, Anne Van Biema Fellowship (Japanese Visual Arts), Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) Fellowship (Persian art), Lunder Fellowship, J. S. Lee Memorial Fellowship (Chinese Art), Smithsonian Institution Fellowship, and the Freer Fellowship.[27]
Freer and Sackler curators are also involved in dozens of ongoing research projects, often with colleagues from institutions around the world. The results of their work can be seen in a variety of published formats, including exhibition catalogues, scholarly publications, and online publications.[28]
Ritual wine ewer (guang) with taotie, dragons, and real animals. Late Shang dynasty, 11th century BCE
Fangyi with cast inscription of 187 characters which commemorates three days of meetings and ceremonies held in Chengzhou during the reign of King Zhao (977/75–957 BC)
Basin (jian) with narrative scenes. Bronze. Eastern Zhou, 5th century BCE
Disk (bi) with knobs, feline and dragon. Nephrite. Han dynasty, between 100 and 220 CE
Buddha Vairocana draped in robes portraying the Realms of Existence. Limestone, Northern Qi, between 550 and 577
Lidded box in the form of a melon with grapevines and knob in the shape of a rodent. Cast and hammered silver with chased and ring-punched decoration and leaf gilding. Tang dynasty, late 7th-early 8th century
Four Scenes from the Life of the Buddha - (Detail) Parinirvana. Stone. Gandhara art, Pakistan or Afghanistan, Kushan period, late 2nd-early 3rd century
Bodhisattva White Avalokiteshvara (Amoghapasha Lokeshvara). Wood and polychromy. Nepal, 14th century
Vasantavilas (detail). Scroll. Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper mounted on cloth. Gujarat, 1451
Sri Cakrasamvara and Vajravarahi. Copper, gilt, jewel inlay. Nepal, 16th-17th century
Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings by Bichitr. Opaque watercolor, ink and gold on paper. Mughal, c. 1615-1618
Goddess Bhadrakali Worshipped by the Gods from a tantricDevi series. Opaque watercolor, gold, silver and beetle wing cases on paper. Pahari, Punjab Hills, c. 1660-1670
Rosewater sprinkler. Silver and gold. India, c. 1775-1800
Southeast Asian Art
Durga Mahishasuramardini (“Slayer of the Buffalo Demon”). Stone (andesite). Central Javanese Period, 9th century
Standing Buddha and tabernacle. Bronze. Thailand, 12th-13th century
Dish. Stoneware with white slip and cobalt pigment under colorless glaze. Red River Delta kilns, Lê dynasty, 15th-century
Jar. Stoneware with cobalt pigment under clear glaze. Red River Delta kilns, Lê dynasty, 15th-century
The Smithsonian Institution, or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Founded on August 10, 1846, it operates as a trust instrumentality and is not formally a part of any of the three branches of the federal government. The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson. It was originally organized as the United States National Museum, but that name ceased to exist administratively in 1967.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake".
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., focusing on Asian art. The Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art together form the National Museum of Asian Art in the United States. The Freer and Sackler galleries house the largest Asian art research library in the country.
Celadon is a term for pottery denoting both wares glazed in the jade green celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware", and a type of transparent glaze, often with small cracks, that was first used on greenware, but later used on other porcelains. Celadon originated in China, though the term is purely European, and notable kilns such as the Longquan kiln in Zhejiang province are renowned for their celadon glazes. Celadon production later spread to other parts of East Asia, such as Japan and Korea as well as Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand. Eventually, European potteries produced some pieces, but it was never a major element there. Finer pieces are in porcelain, but both the color and the glaze can be produced in stoneware and earthenware. Most of the earlier Longquan celadon is on the border of stoneware and porcelain, meeting the Chinese but not the European definitions of porcelain.
Charles Lang Freer was an American industrialist, art collector, and patron. He is known for his large collection of East Asian, American, and Middle Eastern art. In 1906, Freer donated his extensive collection to the Smithsonian Institution, making him the first American to bequeath his private collection to the United States. To house the objects, including The Peacock Room by James McNeill Whistler, Freer funded the construction of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Dwight William Tryon was an American landscape painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His work was influenced by James McNeill Whistler, and he is best known for his landscapes and seascapes painted in a tonalist style.
The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, and four research centers: the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, the Center for the Technical Study of Modern Art, the Harvard Art Museums Archives, and the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies. The three museums that constitute the Harvard Art Museums were initially integrated into a single institution under the name Harvard University Art Museums in 1983. The word "University" was dropped from the institutional name in 2008.
The Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum is a museum located in Sultanahmet Square in Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. Constructed in 1524, the building was formerly the palace of Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, who was the second grand vizier to Suleiman the Magnificent, and was once thought to have been the husband of the Sultan's sister, Hatice Sultan.
Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room is a masterpiece of interior decorative art created by James McNeill Whistler and Thomas Jeckyll, translocated to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Whistler painted the paneled room in a rich and unified palette of brilliant blue-greens with over-glazing and metallic gold leaf. Painted between 1876–77, it now is considered one of the greatest surviving Aesthetic interiors, and best examples of the Anglo-Japanese style.
The Biblical Manuscripts in the Freer Collection, a collection of six biblical manuscripts, date from the 3rd to 6th centuries. Most of the manuscripts are written in Greek, one in Coptic. They are important witnesses of the history of the text of New Testament and Septuagint. The collection was established by Charles Freer (1854–1919), an industrialist from Detroit, Michigan and is held at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution staff as well as the scholarly community and general public with information and reference support. Its collections number nearly 3 million volumes including 50,000 rare books and manuscripts.
The Belitung shipwreck is the wreck of an Arabian dhow which sank around 830 AD. The ship completed the outward journey from Arabia to China, but sank on the return journey from China, approximately 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) off the coast of Belitung Island, Indonesia. It is unclear why the ship was south of the typical route when it sank. Belitung is to the south-east of the Singapore Strait by 610 kilometres (380 mi), and this secondary route is more normal for ships travelling between China and the Java Sea, which is south of Belitung Island.
Laura Andreson was an American ceramic artist and educator at University of California Los Angeles.
Rose and Silver: The Princess from the Land of Porcelain is an oil painting on canvas by American-born artist James McNeill Whistler. It was painted between 1863 and 1865. It currently hangs above the fireplace in The Peacock Room at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Much traditional Chinese art was made for the imperial court, often to be then redistributed as gifts. As well as Chinese painting, sculpture and Chinese calligraphy, there are a great range of what may be called decorative or applied arts. Chinese fine art is distinguished from Chinese folk art, which differs in its style and purpose. This article gives an overview of the many different applied arts of China.
Vidya Dehejia is a retired academic and the Barbara Stoler Miller Professor Emerita of Indian and South Asian Art at Columbia University. She has published 24 books and numerous academic papers on the art of South Asia, and has curated many exhibitions on the same theme.
Conservation and restoration at the Smithsonian Institution deals with the care of the 138 million artifacts located in the collections of Smithsonian Institution. Work is conducted by one research center, the Museum Conservation Institute (MCI), and by conservators at the Smithsonian's museums, galleries, zoo. Smithsonian conservators provide myriad services to their units, including exhibit preparation of the museum collection and loan objects, advising on object care, training for future generations of conservationists, engaging in routine preventive care on a daily basis, conducting research projects related to the collections, and examining objects for evidence of manufacturing techniques and previous restorations All conservation labs collectively further the mission of the Smithsonian Institution, "the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Founded in 1846 the Smithsonian is the world's largest museum and research complex, consisting of 19 museums and galleries, the National Zoological Park, and nine research facilities.
Mina'i ware is a type of Persian pottery, or Islamic pottery developed in Kashan, Iran, in the decades leading up to the Mongol invasion of Persia in 1219, after which production ceased. It has been described as "probably the most luxurious of all types of ceramic ware produced in the eastern Islamic lands during the medieval period". The ceramic body of white-ish fritware or stonepaste is fully decorated with detailed paintings using several colours, usually including figures.
The Anyang funerary bed, also known locally as the Bed of Ts'ao Ts'ao, is a Chinese funerary couch belonging to a Sogdian merchant and official active in China in the 6th century CE. The tomb was discovered in 1911, and the components of the funerary bed were dispersed among various museums in the world after being offered on the art market. It is thought the funerary bed was excavated in Anyang, capital of the Northern Qi dynasty. It is stylically dated to the Northern Qi dynasty.
The National Museum of Asian Art consists of the Smithsonian Institution’s two Asian art galleries, the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, which are situated in connecting buildings on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The galleries are operated by the same board of trustees and share a budget. Both institutions are run by the same management, curatorial and other staff. The two galleries feature 45,000 works of Asian art.
↑ Linda Merrill, a former curator of American art at the Freer Gallery, editor of With Kindest Regards: The Correspondence of Charles Lang Freer and James McNeill Whistler, and co-author of Freer: A Legacy of Art.
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Dagger-axe with inscription of thirty characters. Jade (nephrite). Erlitou culture or early Shang dynasty, c. 2000 - c. 1400 p.n.e.
Ritual wine ewer (guang) with taotie, dragons, and real animals. Late Shang dynasty, 11th century BCE
Basin (jian) with narrative scenes. Bronze. Eastern Zhou, 5th century BCE
Disk (bi) with knobs, feline and dragon. Nephrite. Han dynasty, between 100 and 220 CE
Buddha Vairocana draped in robes portraying the Realms of Existence. Limestone, Northern Qi, between 550 and 577
Lidded box in the form of a melon with grapevines and knob in the shape of a rodent. Cast and hammered silver with chased and ring-punched decoration and leaf gilding. Tang dynasty, late 7th-early 8th century
Guan ware vase. Song dynasty, 12th century
Bodhisattva Guanyin. Gilded domeykite. Dali Kingdom, 12th century
Standing Bodhisattva. Wood, Jin dynasty
Smithsonian 
