66 EEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1912. 



NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART. 



A notable event in the brief histoiy of the Galleiy was the exhibi- 

 tion in one of the great halls of the new building during the spring 

 of 1912 of a selection of objects from the collection of American and 

 oriental art presented to the Nation in 1906 by Mr. Charles L. Freer, 

 of Detroit, Mich., but which, under the conditions of the gift, is to 

 remain in the custody of the donor during his life. Assembled, 

 as Mr. Freer states, for the purpose of uniting " modern work with 

 masterpieces of certain periods of high civilization harmonious in 

 spiritual and jDhysical suggestion, having the power to broaden 

 esthetic culture and the grace to elevate the human mind," yet to the 

 student of research it has a greatly added value in possessing much 

 old and rare material, especially from China, in respect to which 

 country at least the collection is unrivaled. The following estimate 

 of Mr. Freer's labors and of the importance of his collection is by 

 Dr. Berthold Laufer, the distingiiished oriental scholar: 



" 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 fruitful- 

 ness 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 collection broad and universal in scope, but at the same 

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

 and personal spirit pervading the magnificent specimens of Egyp- 

 tian, Mesopotamian, Persian, and far eastern pottery, ancient Eg}^p- 

 tian 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 with oriental peoples, imbibed a profound understanding of 

 their artistic sentiments and aspirations. Mr. Freer is the only great 

 collector in our countiy 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 



