Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (FSGA)

Julian Raby, Director

Freer Gallery of Art

The Freer Gallery, a gift to the nation by Detroit industrialist Charles Lang Freer (1854–1919), opened to the public in 1923 as the Smithsonian’s first fine arts museum. Housing one of the most distinguished collections of Asian art in the world as well as an important collection of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century American art, the gallery’s cultural treasures are presented as keys to understanding the civilizations that produced them.

Collections

The collection of the Freer Gallery spans 6,000 years and many different cultures, reflecting the taste and style of its founder, Charles Lang Freer. The Freer Gallery collections comprise approximately 7,727 examples of Chinese art; 6,488 Japanese examples; 786 works from Korea; 3,289 works from the Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean that include Gospels and biblical material; and 3,682 works from South and Southeast Asia. In ad-dition, there are about 1,709 works of American art collected by Freer, including the world’s largest assembly of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). The full Freer collection contains some 25,024 objects.

The gallery houses particularly distinguished collections of ancient Chinese bronzes and jades, painting and calligraphy, and ceramics; Korean ceramics of the Koryo dynasty; Japanese screens, paintings, sculpture, and ceramics; and Islamic manuscripts, painting, calligraphy, metalwork, ceramics, and glass from the Persian, Arab, and Turkish cultural spheres. Ancient Iranian metalwork is outstanding, as is a small collection of ancient Egyptian glass. The South and Southeast Asian collections include an important group of Mughal paintings as well as sculpture, ceramics, and Hindu painting. In addition to works by Whistler, the American painting collection includes works by other Americans, including Dwight W. Tryon, Thomas W. Dewing, and Abbott H. Thayer.

Publications and Lectures

The Freer Gallery cosponsors with the Department of the History of Art, University of Michigan, the annual scholarly journal Ars Orientalis. Ars Orientalis is a peer-reviewed annual volume of scholarly articles on the art and archaeology of Asia, including the ancient Near East and the Islamic world. Fostering a broad range of themes and approaches, it is intended for scholars in diverse fields.

Throughout its history, the gallery has produced a variety of publications, including the Oriental Studies series and the Freer Gallery of Art Occasional Papers. Today the gallery’s publication program includes studies in conservation and scientific research, research on Asian art history, catalogues of the permanent collection and scholarly exhibition catalogues, in both print and online versions. The gallery sponsors scholarly workshop and symposia throughout the year, as well as a full program of public lectures and performances to complement the exhibition program.

Department of Conservation & Scientific Research (DCSR)

Through conservation and scientific research, the DCSR contributes to the overall efforts of the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery to achieve the highest standards for the collection, preservation, study, and exhibition of Asian art. A permanent staff of twelve works hand-in-hand with a large, changing group of short-term employees, fellows, interns, and visiting scholars. The principle aims of the DCSR staff are the care and treatment of the collection and the use of scientific methods to study objects in the collection and related works of art. Major efforts are also made in conservation training, outreach efforts such as lectures to public and professional audiences, and collaborative work with other bureaus of the Smithsonian Institution and other national and international institutions. In addition to care of the collection, a major part of the conservation effort is the preparation of objects for exhibition. Scientific research in the Freer and Sackler focuses primarily on the study of the physical nature of works of art from Asian cultures, and ancillary research efforts address specific questions concerning the technical and material nature of art objects and the conservation of the collections. Additional information about the department’s programs, research facilities, and fellowship and internship opportunities can be found at the following web site: http://www.asia.si.edu/visitor/conservation.htm.

Library

The research library originated with Charles Lang Freer’s personal library and is one of the branch libraries in the Smithsonian Institution Libraries system. The library supports the research, exhibition, and educational pro-grams of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, and it serves outside researchers and the general public in the study of Asian art and culture and of American art of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Freer and Sackler galleries house the largest Asian art research library in the United States. Open to the public five days a week (except federal holidays) without appointment, the library collection consists of more than 84,000 volumes, including nearly 2,000 rare books. Half the volumes are in Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages. Book contents range from the Ming and Qing Dynasties of China, to woodblock printed books from Japan, to Western travel books on Asia. In 1995, the library was selected to be the official U.S. repository of art exhibition and collection catalogues published in Japan, and to date has received over 4,000 volumes. These catalogues are available via interlibrary loan service. Its on-line catalog, which can display Chinese, Japanese, and Korean characters, is accessible through the Internet: http://siris-libraries.si.edu/.

Archives

The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives is a manuscript and photograph repository dedicated to furthering the study of Asian and Middle Eastern art, archaeology and culture as well as turn-of-the-century American art. Our mission is to collect, preserve, organize, describe, and make available documentary materials that support the holdings and activities of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The Archives houses over one hundred and forty collections, amounting to over one thousand linear feet. Manuscript collections date from the early nineteenth century to the present, including the papers and records of art collectors, dealers, scholars and archaeologists, making the Archives a critical repository for the study of the advent and development of Asian art scholarship and appreciation in America. Our photography holdings are notable for mid to late 19th century views of Asia, and include important works by both western and native photographers and studios. Photographs and other visual documents from the Archives have been featured in numerous galleries exhibitions.

To see the breadth of our holdings please visit: http://tinyurl.com/FSG-Archival-Collections for an over-view of our collections and digitized materials. Useful information about using the Archives and a growing number of electronic finding aids are available on the Archives’ website at http://www.asia.si.edu/visitor/archives.htm. Please browse our Image Gallery (http://sirismm.si.edu/siris/sacklertop.htm) for a sampling of our visual images online, and also check out our Blog (http://si-siris.blogspot.com/) for special features on the Archives’ collections.

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, established in July 1982, received its initial collections through the gift of approximately one thousand objects from the collections of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913–87). The gallery’s primary goals are the advancement of scholarly knowledge and public appreciation of the arts of Asia. Founded to share the historical focus of its sister museum, the Freer Gallery of Art, the Sackler gallery has increased the range of Asian art activities at the Smithsonian while developing an active program of international loan exhibitions.

Collections

The Sackler Gallery collections include Chinese jades dating from Neolithic times (ca. 5000–1500 B.C.E.) into the nineteenth century; Chinese bronzes from the Shang (ca. 1700–1050 B.C.E.) through the Han (206 B.C.E.–C.E. 220) dynasties; Chinese paintings and calligraphy; Chinese lacquer; ancient Near Eastern ceramics and metalwork; and stone, wood, and clay sculpture from South and Southeast Asia. The Vever Collection of Persian and Indian manuscripts, paintings, calligraphies, illuminations, and bookbindings was acquired by pur-chase in 1986. Other important additions have been Japanese works of art, including twentieth-century photo-graphs, prints and ceramics; and art from South Asia, China, and Tibet. In 2004 the Gallery was given an important collection of Central Asian ikats by Dr. Guido Goldman. The Sackler embraces contemporary art and a wide range of media and artistic practices. The continuing acquisitions program is aimed at developing Gallery collections to reflect the full range of Asian art. Recent additions include the Gerhard Pulverer Collection of Japanese Illustrated Books, and the Robert O. Muller and Anne van Biema Collections of Japanese woodblock prints, making the Freer and Sackler a world leader in the study and display of Japanese graphic art.

Publications and Lectures
Please refer to the section under Freer Gallery of Art.

Department of Conservation & Scientific Research
Please refer to the section under Freer Gallery of Art.

Library
The research library, shared by the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, supports the research, exhibition, and educational programs of the two museums. Please refer to the entry under Freer Gallery of Art.

Archives
Please refer to the entries under Freer Gallery of Art.

* The Freer and Sackler collections are unavailable for research until summer 2017 due to The Freer Gallery of Art’s closure to the public from January 2016 until summer 2017. The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Library, and Archives remain open for the duration of the renovation.

RESEARCH STAFF

ALLEE, Stephen D., Associate Curator for Chinese Painting and Calligraphy. B.A. (1975) George Washington University; M.A. (1986) University of Washington. Research specialties: Chinese painting and calligraphy.

CORT, Louise Allison, Curator for Ceramics. B.A. (1966) Simmons College; B. Litt. (1969) St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University. Research specialties: Historical and contemporary ceramics of Japan, Southeast Asia, and South Asia; Japanese textiles; Japanese baskets; other craft traditions of Japan, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

DIAMOND, Debra, Associate Curator South and Southeast Asian Art. B.F.A. (1981) Parsons School of Design; M.A. (1991) Hunter College; Ph.D. (2000) Columbia University. Research specialties: South Asian Art; Yoga History.

FARHAD, Massumeh, Chief Curator and Curator of Islamic Art. B.A. (1977) Wellesley College; M.A. (1983), Ph.D. (1987) Harvard University. Research specialties: Islamic Art, Persian painting.

GIACCAI, Jennifer, Conservation Scientist. B.A. (1995) Macalester College; M.S.E. (1999) Johns Hopkins University. Research specialties: Technical studies of paints, pigments, dyes and their degradation processes; non-invasive methods for characterizing works of art; analysis of resins and organic materials.

GLAZER, Lee, Associate Curator of American Art. Ph.D. (1996) University of Pennsylvania. Research specialties: American art of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; the Aesthetic movement; James McNeill Whistler; nineteenth-century British and American works on paper.

HUH, Carol, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Asian Art. B.S., M.A. (2005) Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Research specialties: Contemporary Asian art.

McCARTHY, Blythe E., Andrew W. Mellon Senior Scientist. S.B. (1987), S.M. (1988) Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D. (1996) Johns Hopkins University. Research specialties: Technical studies of artifacts composed of inorganic materials, especially Asian glass and ceramics; materials characterization and non-destructive analysis methods.

MICKLEWRIGHT, Nancy, Head, Scholarly Programs and Publications. B.A., M.A., Ph.D. (1986) University of Pennsylvania. Research specialties: History of Photography in the Middle East, especially the Ottoman Empire; Ottoman painting and dress; gender issues in Islamic art.

STRAHAN, Donna, Head of Department of Conservation and Scientific Research. A.A. (1967) Stephens College; B.A., M.A. (1982) George Washington University. Research specialties: Conservation, restoration and technical research on Asian objects.

STUART, Jan, Curator of Chinese art. B.A. (1978) Yale University; M.A. (1979) Yale University; M.A. (1983) Princeton University. Research specialties: Chinese art: ceramics, decorative arts, painting, gardens, and history of practices of display of the arts in imperial China.

ULAK, James T., Senior Curator of Japanese Art. B.A. (1968) Maryknoll College; M.Div. (1976) Maryknoll School of Theology; Ph.D. (1994) Case Western Reserve University. Research specialties: Japanese narrative painting of the 14th and 15th centuries.

WILSON, J. Keith, Curator of Ancient Chinese Art. B.A. (1978) Williams College; M.A. (1983) University of Michigan; M.F.A. (1985) Princeton University. Research specialties: Chinese jades of the Neolithic through Han periods, bronzes of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, with particular interest in inscribed examples; Buddhist sculpture of the Six Dynasties period and Sui and Tang dynasties; Korean art of all periods.

YONEMURA, Ann, Senior Associate Curator for Japanese Art. B.A. (1969) Wellesley College; M.A. (1973) Princeton University. Research specialties: Japanese painting, calligraphy, prints, and lacquer.

AFFILIATED RESEARCH STAFF

BOSWORTH, Jenifer, Exhibitions Conservator. B.A. (1992) Cornell University; M.A. (1999) University of Durham, England. Research specialties: Conservation topics in the following specialties: exhibitions, ethnographic objects.

CHASE, Ellen, Objects Conservator. B.A. (1988) Williams College; M.A. (1993) New York University. Research specialties: Conservation of inorganic and organic materials with a focus on ceramics.

HARE, W. Andrew, Supervisory East Asian Painting Conservator. B.A. (1985) Oberlin College. Research specialties: Conservation of East Asian paintings.

HOGGE, David, Head of Archives. M.A. (1993) University of Washington. Research specialties: Japanese art.
JACOBSON, Emily, Paper & Photographs Conservator. B.A. (1984) Connecticut College; M.A. (1991) SUNY-Buffalo State College. Research specialties: Indian Miniatures; Islamic paintings and manuscripts.

RABY, Julian, The Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur. M Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art. Ph.D. (1981) University of Oxford. Research specialties: Islamic art.

SLUSSER, Mary, Research Associate. B.A. (1942) University of Michigan; Graduate Studies (1942-1945) Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; Graduate Studies (1946-1947) Harvard University; Ph.D. (1950) Columbia University. Research specialties: Nepal and Himalayan related subjects in culture and art.