Freer Gallery of Art

Freer Gallery of Art, museum in Washington, D.C., endowed and built by the Detroit industrialist Charles Lang Freer to house the distinguished collection of Oriental art that he gave to the United States government in 1906. The Freer Gallery was administratively made a part of the Smithsonian Institution, and in 1923 it was opened to the public.

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The Freer collection includes 19th-century American paintings and has the world’s largest collection of James McNeill Whistler’s works, including the famed Peacock Room, decorated by Whistler as a prank. It was originally the dining room of an English shipbuilder, who after purchasing Whistler’s painting “Rose and Silver: The Princess from the Land of Porcelain,” permitted the artist to redecorate the room to harmonize with the picture. Using the peacock as his theme, Whistler trimmed borders off Oriental rugs and painted over leather wallcovering to create an exotic gold and turquoise atmosphere for his painting. Two gold peacocks with crystal eyes adorn the wall opposite the picture. The entire room was purchased by Freer for $63,000.

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