Freer Gallery of Art is an art museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D C focusing on Asian art.
| FactSnippet No. 847,285 |
11 Facts About Freer Gallery
3.
Freer Gallery owned the largest collection of works by American artist James McNeill Whistler and became a patron and friend of the famously irascible artist.
| FactSnippet No. 847,287 |
4.
Freer Gallery gift was accepted on behalf of the government by the Smithsonian Board of Regents in 1906.
| FactSnippet No. 847,288 |
5.
Freer Gallery felt strongly that all of the museum's holding should be readily accessible to scholars at all times.
| FactSnippet No. 847,289 |
6.
The Freer Gallery possesses an autographed letter from Roosevelt inviting Freer to visit him at the White House, reflecting the personal interest Roosevelt showed in the development of the museum.
| FactSnippet No. 847,290 |
7.
The gallery is constructed primarily of granite: the exterior of the Freer is pink granite quarried in Milford, Massachusetts, the courtyard has a carnelian granite fountain and walls of unpolished Tennessee white marble.
| FactSnippet No. 847,291 |
8.
The Freer Gallery was the first Smithsonian museum created from a private collector's bequest.
| FactSnippet No. 847,292 |
9.
The Freer Gallery closed for extensive renovations in January 2016 and reopened in October 2017.
| FactSnippet No. 847,293 |
10.
In 1890, after meeting James Abbott McNeill Whistler, an American artist influenced by Japanese prints and Chinese ceramics, Freer Gallery began to expand his collections to include Asian art.
| FactSnippet No. 847,294 |
11.
Freer Gallery has had a long tradition in serving as a center for inquiry and advanced scholarship about Asia.
| FactSnippet No. 847,295 |