FOREWORD. 



There are at the present time two living men at least whose 

 minds are wide-awake to the world-historical importance of 

 oriental art in its bearing on our cultural development and 

 in its immense fruitfulness of our own art life — Dr. Bode, 

 who is planning to found an Asiatic museum in Berlin, and 

 Mr. Charles L. Freer, who has made the American people heirs 

 to the finest existing collection of Chinese art. It is a col- 

 lection broad and universal in scope but at the same time one 

 of harmony and unity of thought, the same leading motive and 

 personal spirit per\^ading the magnificent specimens of Egyp- 

 tian, Mesopotamian, Persian, and far eastern pottery, ancient 

 Egyptian colored glass, Persian and Hindu miniature paintings, 

 and the painting, bronze, and sculpture of China and Japan. 

 And the genius of Whistler, a reincarnation of one of the ancient 

 masters of the East, soars above these emanations of the 

 oriental world as the spiritual link connecting the Orient and 

 the Occident. 



Mr. Freer occupies an exceptional place among collectors. 

 He has never been accumulative, but rather selective in his 

 methods; with a sincere appreciation of all manifestations of 

 art and deliberate judgment, he has himself visited the East 

 many times, and in full sympathy w4th oriental peoples, im- 

 bibed a profound understanding of their artistic sentiments and 

 aspirations. Mr. Freer is the only great collector in our country 

 who has sought and seized opportunities in China. He was 

 privileged to enter the sanctum of many Chinese collectors and 

 connoisseurs of high standing, and he was fortunate in securing 

 masterpieces of the most indisputable artistic value. It is in 

 the American national collection that for the first time our eyes 

 are opened to the choicest specimens of ancient Chinese painting, 

 and the Nation has every reason to look up with pride to this 

 treasure house and to feel grateful to the man who has become 



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