Room For Each Department. j 
Mr. Freer refrained from giving a de- ' 
tailed description of the plans, but ex¬ 
plained 'that 'each department of his col¬ 
lection will 'have"rooms' of its own. The 
main galleries will be on the.. second 
floor, in the center of which’’' will be a 
beautiful garden or rest room. Only a 
Part of the collection will be on ex¬ 
hibition at one time, the other art ob- ; 
.tects being- kept on the first floor of the 
building, where they Will be accessible 
to students. It is a part of Mr. Freer’s 
plan to have ■ the objects on exhibition 
changed frequently in order that the 
art loving- public may allways find 
! something of fresh interest in the ex- 
| hibition galleries. 
A big- feature of the building will be 
[ the rooms for students The idea of j 
affording opportunities for student j 
work is one of the keystones of Mr. I 
Freer’s plan for the enlightenment of j 
the public in matters'of art. 
Mr. Freer says that he. is satisfied 
that the Chinese department af his 
collection contains the things of the 
greatest , esthetic interest and of the 
highest, educational value. 
Art Search In China. 
Fie was the first American to believe 
that any fine ancient paintings were 
left in China, and to make search for 
them in interior centers He said: “For 
years I went to Japan believing-, as did 
others, that practically all the ancient 
Chinese paintings were in that country. 
Then I visited China, going far into the 
interior, and I found fine ancient paint¬ 
ings were still existing' there, some 
treasured by private collectors, others 
1 in the hands of people who. knew notic¬ 
ing of their esthetic' or commercial 
value.’ * 
“What we want to do in the building 
that is to be erected in Washington is 
to provide splendidly equipped study 
rooms where students may examine 
these objects of the ancient cultural 
periods of China and by spell means es¬ 
tablish in America higher intelligence [ 
concerning Far Eastern civilization. 
“A movement is now on foot to es¬ 
tablish a school of art and archaeology 
in China to which American and for¬ 
eign students shall be admitted and 
; the graduates of that school can after 
I their return to their respective coun¬ 
tries help to instruct in that Oriental 
culture of which outside of . the Orient 
so little is known.” 
i Mr. Freer ma.de it very clear that the. 
reason his collection does not contain 
the work of European artists of the 
present and bygone days is not be¬ 
cause he doesn’t think their art worthy 
but because others in America have 
made collections of European art, and 
he decided to devote his time and energy 
largely to the gathering together of ob- 
1 jects of equal beauty and workmanship 
about which the American people know , 
: but comparatively little. He enjoys the 
pleasure of discovery, and the joy of 
possession lies merely in the fact that 
; he can give away what he has for the 
enlightenment and enjoyment of the 
i American people. 
Mr. Freer Is Bachelor. 
Mr. Freer is a bachelor., was born at- 
Kingston, N. Y„ and received his edu¬ 
cation in the public schools of Ulster 
county. At one time he was engaged in 
railway service and manufacturing in 
Detroit. and retired fifteen years ago 
that he might give up all the time he 
pleased to visiting out of the way places 
of the world and picking up art ob¬ 
jects to keep for a while and then 
give to the American people. 
Mr. Freer has been a semi-invalid for 
the last four years. He is still suffering 
from an affection of the throat, and is 
under the care of physicians, but his 
condition now is better than at any 
time sineb he was first stricken. He ex¬ 
pects to remain a guest at the i iaza 
during December, and possibly througn 
the month of January. SNM 
Mr. Freer, aided by expert cat a- - 
loguers. is working on his .collection, 
although under medical restriction, ana 
spends more tirne consulting with the 
architect of the home for the treas¬ 
ures that he has been turning over to 
Uncle Sain regularly each year .or the 
consideration of $1, happy in the knowl¬ 
edge that by these simple bills of sale 
he is able to make a gift to fh* Ameri¬ 
can people that no tricks of taw or 
fate can takg aw ay from th em. jj 
What Charles L. Freer 
Has Given to Nation 
About 1,200 specimens of 
Whistler's work, paintings 
in oil, water colors, pastels, 
etchings, lithographs, draw¬ 
ings in pencil-chalk, original 
copper plates of etchings 
and the famous Peacock 
Room which the great 
American painter decorated 
for Leyland, the English col¬ 
lector and ship owner. 
One hundred paintings by 
other American artists, in¬ 
cluding Tryon, Dewing, 
Thayer, Sargent, Hassam, 
Metcalf, Twachtman, Mur¬ 
phy and Melchers. 
More than 1,600 pieces of 
ancient glazed pottery, 
gathered *from the Far East 
and Near East. 
More than 800 paintings on 
screens, scrolls and kakemo¬ 
no from Japan and China. 
| More than 500 pieces of sculp¬ 
ture, bronze, jade, lacquer 
and metal work from Japan 
and China. 
A small collection of Egyptian 
art, including glass, pottery, 
bronze and sculpture. 
The rare Biblical manuscripts 
classified as the Washington 
manuscripts. 
