It all began in 1890, when American railroad magnate Charles Lang Freer met with artist James McNeill Whistler in Whistler’s London studio. Freer was interested in acquiring Whistler’s work, but the influential artist encouraged Freer to pursue Asian art as well. Freer embraced the suggestion and ended up amassing 1,000 works by Whistler and 9,500 works of Asian art.
In 1906, Freer contacted President Theodore Roosevelt to donate his collection to the public. Freer helped design an Italianate-style museum on the National Mall, the first national museum of art in the country. When the new Smithsonian museum opened in 1923, live peacocks roamed the courtyard. Freer believed the museum created “points of contact” between ancient and modern, East and West.
A renovation in 2016 and 2017 connected the Freer and Sackler art galleries and rebranded them as the National Museum of Asian Art. Among the museum’s 45,000 objects dating from antiquity to current day are pieces from Japan, Nepal, Korea, China, and the Islamic world. For an overview of the works on display, join one of the daily docent-led tours.
Of all the masterworks on display, The Peacock Room is considered a must-see for good reason. This captivating room is a replica of the London dining room where shipping tycoon Frederick R. Leyland assembled his blue-and-white porcelain collection from China and displayed it on gilded shelves. Whistler made the majority of the design and color choices, and eventually Freer purchased every item, adding ceramics of his own. Central to the room is Whistler’s painting The Princess from the Land of Porcelain and a mural of frolicking peacocks.
While the museum’s permanent collection is indeed breathtaking, don’t miss the new centennial exhibitions: A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur; Anyang: China’s Ancient City of Kings; and Ay-Ō’s Happy Rainbow Hell, all with exciting digital and immersive features. A new introductory hall opened this year, integrating modern voices with the museum’s artwork. It’s designed to help visitors better understand why these historic objects are still relevant in the 21st century. 1050 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC, asia.si.edu
Feature image courtesy The National Museum of Asian Art
This story originally ran in our June issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
