THE FREER GALLERY IN Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian’s first art museum on the National Mall, is celebrating its centennial this year. Opening in 1923, it was built to house the Asian and Near Eastern collections of Charles Lang Freer, one of the “titans of industry” who made vast fortunes in America’s Gilded Age.

Freer (1854-1919) was born into a family of modest means in Kingston, N.Y.  He went to work in a cement factory after his mother died when he was fourteen, then gradually worked his way up the manufacturing pipeline, securing ever-higher positions at the New York, Kingston, and Syracuse Railroad. In 1880 he co-founded the Peninsular Car Works in Detroit, where he oversaw the manufacture of Peninsular’s rail cars and locomotives; in 1892, he orchestrated the merger of a dozen rail companies and became wealthy enough to retire in 1899 when he was 49.

Although his serious interest in art began after he retired, Freer began collecting James McNeill Whistler drawings in 1887. He and Whistler met in London in 1890 and became fast friends, with Freer serving as a devoted patron and Whistler sparking Freer’s passion for Asian art. Thanks to Whistler’s urgings, Freer traveled extensively to India, China, and Japan in 1894-95, and began to purchase Asian art. Along with Japanese, Chinese, and Korean painting and ceramics, Freer also became interested in Syrian, Mesopotamian, and Persian ceramics.

In the early 20th century, archaeological discoveries sparked a feverish public interest in Egypt, along with the publication of travel books touting ancient Egyptian culture and decorative arts.  Freer, who eagerly read these descriptions, first traveled to Egypt in 1906, happily exploring archaeological sites, museums, and buying artifacts. He was entranced, writing a friend that “I now feel these things are the greatest art in the world–greater than Greek, Chinese or Japanese.”  (CLF to Frank Hecker, Feb.3, 1907)  

He returned to Egypt in 1907 and 1910, and his collections grew so enormously that they couldn’t be contained in his Detroit mansion. In 1904, he first suggested to the Smithsonian that he would donate his artifacts to the nation’s museum, and with the enthusiastic support of President Theodore Roosevelt, the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents accepted Freer’s gift in 1906. 

“Amidst the celebrating, it will be important for the museum to discuss the moral and ethical questions surrounding Freer’s foundational collections.”

Freer’s foundational collections centered on the art of Whistler–including the Peacock Room (left)–and connected his Asian collections to Whistler on aesthetic qualities, explaining that “My great desire has been to unite modern work with masterpieces of certain periods of high civilization harmonious in spiritual suggestion, having the power to broaden esthetic culture and the grace to elevate the human mind.”

His original gift to the Smithsonian contained 2,250 objects, but Freer kept collecting. Although he died In 1919,  the next year his collection of 9,500 objects was transferred from his house in Detroit to Washington, D.C.. There were 1,189 pieces by Whistler (including the “Peacock Room” which he bought in 1904), along with 3,400 Chinese works, 1,863 Japanese, 1,697 Egyptian, 513 from Indian and the Middle East, 451 from Korean, 200 works by “19th century American masters,” and 200 miscellaneous objects.

Freer also funded the building that would contain his collections—an endowment that was the first of its kind in America. His will provided an income stream to employ a museum curator, additional funds to support a scholarship for Asian and Middle Eastern studies, and money to decorate and maintain the museum grounds, including interior and exterior ornamental gardens. 

Below right: Anyang period jade (nephrite) round axe, Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, F1970.39; three collared disks, Gift of Arthur M. Sackler, S1987.647, S1987.656, andS1987.457; axe pendant and bracelet, The Dr. Paul SingerCollection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; a joint gift of the ArthurM. Sackler Foundation, Paul Singer, the AMS Foundation for the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities, and the Children of Arthur M. Sackler, S2012.9.269, and S2012.9.230; pair of fish pendants, Purchase—Charles Lang FreerEndowment, S1979.26–27.Required Credit:National Museum of Asian Art,Smithsonian Institution

One part of his will was trickier: he  stipulated that all new acquisitions be approved ay the Fine Arts National Commission and panel of his friends. He declared that the museum could not accept gifts of works of art for the permanent collection, and forbade the display of works of art that were not part of the permanent collection. He also stated that once brought into the permanent collection, no piece of art was to be loaned out.  (!!)

Construction of the Freer Gallery began in 1916, but completion was delayed by World War I; the museum did not open until 1923, four years after Freer’s death. But the impact of his connoisseurship remains, conveyed in displays that impart a broad understanding why Asian and Middle Eastern art are significant.

A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur, November 19, 2022–May 14, 2023, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Presented in collaboration with The City Palace Museum in Udaipur administered by The Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation. Photo: Colleen Dugan. Pictured here: Sunrise in Udaipur, 1722–23. Udaipur. Opaque watercolor?and gold on paper; 82.3 × 152.4 cm. The City Palace Museum, Udaipur, 2012.20.0015 (Detail)

The Freer’s Centennial Celebration this year will feature a number of special exhibitions: 

–“Freer’s Global Network: Artists, Collectors, and Dealer” will focus on American paintings and stoneware, Japanese Ceramincs, ancient Chinese bronzes, and Near Eastern pottery

–“A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur” reveals how artists sought to capture the lived experience of this iconic lake city (above)

–“Journey of Color” displays 34 objects that highlight minerals like gold and lapis lazuli that convey dazzling pigments

–“Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings” portrays a 3,000 year old Chinese society through its weapons, jewelry, everyday objects, and ritual treasures

–“Ay-O’s Happy Rainbow Hell”–contemporary Japanese artist Ay-O is known for his prismatic silkscreen prints.

Right: Portrait of Kubo Sadajir? A????? A?8/15 Silkscreen Artist: Ay-?
?? (born 1931) Showa era, 1974 Japan Silkscreen; ink on paper H x W (sheet): 33.2×25.8 cm (13 1/16 ×10 3/16 in) H x W (image): 30.1×24 cm (11 7/8 ×9 7/16 in) Credit: Ay-?/National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC: The Pearl and Seymour
Moskowitz Collection, S2021.5.12, © Ay-?

In addition, there will be a film series that features Anna May Wong’s classic silent “Piccadilly” (1929), and a Centennial Festival in May to celebrate Asian art and culture in the museum and on the National Mall.

Amidst the celebrating, it will be important for the museum to discuss the moral and ethical questions surrounding Freer’s foundational collections.  In 2022, the Smithsonian enacted an ethical returns policy sparked by acquisitions of two newer museums, the National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of the American Indian. Because of this policy, twenty-nine Benin bronzes were returned to Nigeria, and sacred artifacts are being returned to indigenous tribes.  Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch has said that “our possession of these collections carries with it certain ethical obligations to the places and people where the collections originated.”  

As the Freer looks ahead to its next 100 years, this contemporary perspective should be part of the discussion.

By Amy Henderson, Contributing Editor

Editor’s Note: The author calls attention to this article pertaining to museum collections from foreign sources:

When a visit to the museum becomes an ethical dilemma [here]:

https://artdaily.cc/news/154522/When-a-visit-to-the-museum-becomes-an-ethical-dilemma#.Y_zV_ezMJR5