38 



Annals of the Smithsonian Institution 2000 



Research 



This year's scholarly invesrigarions emphasized collaboration 

 and preparation for the many exhibitions planned for the 

 next few years. With the support of the E. Rhodes and Leona 

 B. Carpenter Foundation, Jenny F. So, curatot of ancient 

 Chinese art, continues to work on the two-volume compre- 

 hensive catalogue of Chinese jades in the Freer and Sackler 

 collections, including selected objects from the Dr. Paul 

 Singer Collection of Chinese Art of the Arthur M. Sackler 

 Gallery. Dr. So's exhibition "Music in the Age of Confucius" 

 and its accompanying catalogue were among the highlights 

 of the fiscal year. Jan Stuart, associate curator of Chinese art, 

 continues her study of Chinese portraiture in preparation for 

 the forthcoming book (coauthored with Evelyn S. Rawski) 

 and Sackler exhibition "Worshiping the Ancestors: Chinese 

 Commemorative Portraits." Ms. Stuart's research also in- 

 cluded the study of Buddhist sculpture and Chinese carvings 

 in the medium of rhino horn. The E. Rhodes and Leona B. 

 Carpenter Foundation is also funding the work of Joseph 

 Chang, associate curator of Chinese art, Stephen D. Allee, re- 

 search specialist in Chinese literature and history, and Ingrid 

 Larsen, research specialist, on a comprehensive catalogue of 

 Chinese paintings and calligraphy from the Song and Yuan 

 dynasties in the Freer Gallery of Art. Based on selections of 

 Chinese paintings from the Freer's permanent collection, Mr. 

 Allee is also consulting on a book, soon to be published by 

 Harry N. Abrams and Company, that is intended to intro- 

 duce children to Chinese painting. 



Louise A. Cort, curator for ceramics, catalogued the 

 Hauge gift of Khmer ceramics and prepared the Khmer por- 

 tion of the book and the exhibition of the ceramics. The 

 Hauge gift, generously given to the Arthur M. Sackler 

 Gallery by Osborne and Gratia Hauge and Victor and Takako 

 Hauge, consisted of three extraordinarily fine and diverse 

 collections of ceramics from ancient and Islamic Iran and the 

 Khmer Empire. Ms. Cort is also engaged in a long-term 

 study of contemporary earthenware and stoneware produc- 

 tion in mainland Southeast Asia, and she is working on 

 books of the Freer's collections of Japanese ceramics from the 

 Kyoto region and Kyushu. 



James T Ulak, curator of Japanese art, conducted research 

 into the visual accounts of the Russo-Japanese War. Dr. 

 Ulak's research resulted in the exhibition and book A Well- 

 Watched War: Images from the Russo-Japanese Front, 1904— 

 1905. He continues to conduct research on Japanese narra- 

 tive paintings in the Freer Collection. Ann Yonemura, senior 

 associate curator of Japanese art, continues research into the 

 arts of the Rimpa School in the Freer Gallery of Art and 

 Japanese prints of the Edo period. Ms. Yonemura has also 

 been investigating the use of gold and silver in Japanese lac- 

 quer, painting and other arts. 



Vidya Dehejia, deputy director and chief curator, com- 

 pleted her work on the exhibition and accompanying book 

 titled India through the Lens: Photography — 1840— 191 1. This 

 exhibition presents the Indian subcontinent in 135 photo- 

 graphs taken during the golden age of photography and is 

 scheduled to open on December 3, 2000. Dr. Dehejia is also 



conducting research for an exhibition on Southern Indian 

 bronzes of the Chola dynasty, ninth— thirteenth centuries, 

 which will be accompanied by a book incorporating new 

 material and fresh perspectives. The exhibition, otganized 

 by the Ametican Federation of Arts (AFA), will open in 

 November 2002. 



Massumeh Farhad, associate curator of Islamic art, is con- 

 ducting research toward the publication of a catalogue of the 

 Arabic, Persian, and Turkish works of art on paper in the 

 Freer Gallery of Art, a project supported by the Smithson- 

 ian's Collection Based Research Program. Dr. Farhad is also 

 working on the Great Gulistan ofSa'di, recently given to the 

 Freer by The Art and History Trust in honor of Ezzat-Malek 

 Soudavar, for a Freer Occasional Paper, as well as for a chap- 

 ter on seventeenth-century paintings for the forthcoming 

 publication Slaves of the Shah: New Elites in Safavid Iran. Ann 

 C. Gunter, associate curator of Ancient Near Eastern art, 

 continues her work toward the publication of two books: 

 Charles Lang Freer and Egypt and Defining Cultural Boundaries 

 in the Eastern Mediterranean, ca. 1000—600 B.C. Dr. Gunter is 

 also working on a book of the ancient Iranian ceramics in the 

 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery's collection and is conducting re- 

 search on the Ernst Herzfeld Papers housed in the archives of 

 the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. 



Kenneth J. Myers, assistant curator of American art, is 

 currently working on an exhibition and book that will 

 highlight the intellectual history of Freer's collection of 

 American art. He completed the essay "The Public Display 

 of Art in New York City, 1664-19 14" for the National 

 Academy of Design publication Rave Reviews: American Art 

 and its Critics, 1826-1925. Dr. Myers is also working on the 

 journal of Thomas Kelah Wharton and is continuing his re- 

 search on James McNeill Whistler's 1884 exhibition at the 

 Dowdeswell Gallery in London. He and Martha Smith, the 

 galleries' paper conservator, have continued to foster the rela- 

 tionship between the Freer Gallery of Art and the Centre for 

 Whistler Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. 



Jane Norman, exhibition conservaror, continues her tech- 

 nical studies and the conservation of East Asian and Islamic 

 lacquer, particularly the adaptation of Japanese and Chinese 

 treatment methods in the context of American conservation 

 practices. 



Members of the department of conservarion and scientific 

 research continue their studies of Asian art on Chinese and 

 Islamic metalwork (Paul Jett), Chinese jades (Janet G. 

 Douglas), papers used by Whisrler and Indian papers (Martha 

 Smith), gilded bronzes (Blythe McCarthy, principal investi- 

 gator, with funding from the National Park Service), Japanese 

 raku ceramics (McCarthy), Korean stone and glass beads 

 (Gokok) (Douglas and McCarthy), and East Asian paintings 

 (John Winter in collaboration with Marco Leona and Jennifer 

 Giaccai, funded by the Andrew W Mellon Foundation). 



Our publications department is an important component 

 in bringing our research to the attention of the public and 

 the scholarly community. This year the Museum Publica- 

 tions Design Competition of the American Association of 

 Museums awarded an Honorable Mention to the Devi Public 

 Programs Calendar of Events. The publication Sevruguin and 



