| The Freer Gallery of Art |
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 WASHINGTON Located in Washington DC and part of the Smithsonian Institution, The Freer Gallery of Art is located at 12th Street and Independence SW. The museum is located on the National Mall which is the grassy area between the Capital Building and the Washington Monument. This museum is one of the smaller museums of the Smithsonian Collection, and features mostly Asian and American art.
Featured at the Freer Gallery, is an extensive collection from across Asia. The collection also features American art by artist James McNeil Whistler. Whistler himself had an extensive collection of Asian art, before it was fashionable in Europe to collect such things at the time. The majority of his collection was purchased in Paris from a shop on Rue de Rivoli.  In the 1860’s Whistler began painting well known models of the day garbed as Japanese Courtesans, as he had a fascination with Asian art. One such piece in the collection is called “Caprice in Purple and Gold-The Golden Screen”. The medium is oil on canvas and it was completed in 1864. There is a room at the Freer called The Peacock Room; Harmony in Blue and Gold. The original room was designed and decorated by Whistler in 1876-77.  Whistler had an impressionist style, and prior to painting his Asian inspired pieces, he did other landscape works as well as painting impressionist portraits. One work on display at the Freer is called The Thames in Ice, which is oil on canvas and was completed in 1860. The Freer has a beautiful collection from the Edo period (1615-1640) in Japan. There are a number of handmade screens as well as curios such as cabinets and dishes. One such remarkable cabinet is a handmade cabinet, similar to small jewelry boxes of today that features a lacquered finish with maki-e chrysanthemums. The maki-e process consists of sprinkling real gold or silver flake into the freshly applied lacquer and allowing it to dry which gives the surface a beautiful shimmery appearance in the area that it is applied. Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the collection is the Islamic art display. This collection demonstrates how Islamic art flourished from Spain to the Middle East and contains such artifacts as ancient Koran pages written in Kufic script from the 9th Century. There are several examples of the mihrab, which is a niche located in the mosque to indicate the direction of the holy city of Mecca. They are from the 13th Century Northern Iranian mosque. There is also a fine example of 16th Century Iranian artwork, which according to one Iranian museum visitor I spoke with, the same technique is taught in schools today.  While not as impressive as the Egyptian collection featured at The Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History, The Freer does feature a small collection of Egyptian artifacts. Many of the sculpture pieces in the collection at the Freer dates to 1550-1196B.C. One of the most interested artifacts is a series of limestone plaques. These plaques were used as patterns by the stone carvers for the walls of tombs and temples.  The Freer does have heightened security procedures in place. All bags will be check for security. There is no smoking anywhere on the property and since this is one of the smaller buildings of the Smithsonian Collection, there is no restaurant or gift shop on site. The advantage however, is that there usually aren’t the big lines that are associated with the larger museums either. If Asian inspired art interests you be sure to visit the Freer on your next visit to Washington, D.C. Bookmark us: 
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