Washington POST, October 1, 1920 
I 
HOME OF ART THAT GRACES MALL 
mmzzm . 
'**' *wwm 
:>•*■ ■ ’ . ‘ 
*»•••'■' 
Awe««SK 
—Copyright by Underwood & Underwood. 
This handsome structure at Twelfth and B streets will soon house the noted Freer art collection. It is the gift to 
the United States of the late Charles L. Freer, of Detroit. 
Art and Artists 
I The new Freer Art Gallery, located 
on the Mall near the Smithsonian In¬ 
stitution, is about complete, having 
been erected with, the $1,200,000 left 
by the late Charles L. Freer, of De- 
1 troit, to house his unique and valuable 
i art collection of over 6,000 items. Mr. 
i Freer presented this collection and the 
money to the United States to be ad¬ 
ministered by- the Smithsonian Insti¬ 
tution. The original gift was made in 
1906, but the building was not begun 
until 1916. It is now practically com¬ 
pleted and is expected to be ready in 
a few months to receive the collec¬ 
tions. 
The building is located at Twelfth 
and B streets, between the Smith¬ 
sonian Institution and the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. The style of 
architecture is eminently suited for 
an art gallery and makes a splendid 
addition to Washington’s public 
buildings, which, it is hoped, will 
some day make the vista from 
the Capitol to the Monument known 
ks the Mall, the most beautiful thing 
of its kind in the world. 
The building, of Massachusetts pink 
g'ranite, presents an exterior both 
dignified and pleasing. It measures 
228 feet in frontage hy 185 feet deep, 
and, consists of a single main story 
above a high basement. The former, 
having an open central court about 65 
feet square, is divided into rooms of 
different sizes, all of which will be 
used for exhibition of the collections. 
The Whistler collection will occupy 
five of these rooms, in one of which 
the decorations of the famous Pea¬ 
cock room will be installed. The base¬ 
ment contains ample studios, storage 
rooms, an auditorium and adminis¬ 
trative offices. The studios will be a 
prominent feature of the gallery, 
where every facility will be offered to 
art students, to study and benefit 
by the collection of great masters. 
Mr, Freer’s collection was brought 
together with a definite purpose, and 
contains besides American paintings 
and sculpture, Oriental paintings, 
pottery, bronzes, jades, and textiles. 
In making this most generous and 
complete gift to the nation, Mr. Freer 
prefaced his offer as follows: 
“These several collections include 
specimens of very widely separated 
periods of artistic development, be¬ 
ginning: before the birth of Christ, 
and ending today. No attempt has 
been made to secure specimens from 
unsympathetic sources, my collecting 
having been confined to American 
and Asiatic schools. My great de¬ 
sire has been to unite modern work 
with masterpieces of certain periods 
of high civilization harmonious in 
spiritual and physical suggestion, 
having the power to broaden esthetic 
culture and the grace to .elevate the 
human mind.” 
All honor is due Mr. Freer for this 
splendid gift to the nation. When 
the building is completed and the ex¬ 
hibition halls opened, art lovers and 
students throughout the country, who 
visit Washington, will realize what a 
marvelous collection Mr. Freer has 
brought together during years or 
careful searching, and what an in¬ 
fluence on art in this country such 
a carefully selected permanent exhi¬ 
bition will have. 
