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New: The Texture of Night: James McNeill Whistler
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June 6, 2009 - Through June 2010 (new closing date)
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Whistler's Nocturnes, the artist's term for his nearly abstract moonlit landscapes, represent his signature contribution to 19th-century art. Beginning with oil paintings of the river Thames, Whistler expanded his exploration of urban darkness to include other sites and a range of media: lithography, watercolors, and above all, etching. This exhibition highlights 15 of these works on paper. Though small in scale, these nighttime views of London, Venice, and Amsterdam are among Whistler's most aesthetically suggestive and technically innovative works.
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New: Writing, Carving, and Rubbing: China's Calligraphic Arts
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April 4, 2009 - October 26, 2009
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The exhibition showcases the evolution of Chinese calligraphy through six major script types -- oracle-bone, seal, clerical, cursive, running, and standard script -- in the past three millenniums. Eminent calligraphers today both reinterpret the accomplishments of past masters and create original works with unique personal styles, illustrating the art of Chinese calligraphy that continues to present day. Also included in the exhibition are writing tools, such as The Four Treasures of Scholar's Studio -- namely paper, ink stick, brush, and ink stone -- as well as seal and seal paste.
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New: Moonlight and Clouds: Silver and Gold in the Arts of Japan
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November 8, 2008 - November 8, 2009
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This exhibition features 32 examples of lacquer, painting, calligraphy, ceramics, and metalwork that showcase the distinctive repertoire of techniques for applying gold and silver on a variety of materials that Japanese artists developed beginning in the 17th century. One distinctive achievement in the arts of East Asia is the Japanese methods for lacquer decoration in gold and silver that enabled refined pictorial designs.
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New: Golden Seams: The Japanese Art of Mending Ceramics
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November 8, 2008 - November 8, 2009
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Clay vessels are remarkably durable, yet they are vulnerable to breakage if mishandled or dropped. This small exhibition presents 13 ceramics from China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan that were mended and enhanced by a unique method created by Japanese craftsmen. This distinctive technique was based on the longstanding practice of using plant resin lacquer as an adhesive, but Japanese craftsmen transformed the appearance of the repair by sprinkling the lacquer with powdered gold, thus creating a new component for appreciation. "Gold" lacquer repairs became closely associated with ceramic utensils used for tea (chanoyu).
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New: Freer & Whistler: Points of Contact
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February 23, 2008 - Indefinitely
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Some 23 oil paintings represent a choice selection of the more than 1,300 paintings, prints, and drawings by Whistler in the gallery's collection. The works on view were chosen to exemplify both Freer's philosophy of collecting and Whistler's own self-conscious synthesis of western and Asian artistic traditions. Highlights include a sequence of views of the Thames from Whistler's Chelsea residence; an ensemble of Nocturnes (Whistler's term for his paintings of the moonlit urban landscape), and a pair of full-length portraits, including the magnificent Arrangement in Black: Portrait of F.R. Leyland, which depicts the patron of the renowned Peacock Room, adjacent to this exhibition.
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New: Surface Beauty: American Art and Freer's Aesthetic Vision
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February 23, 2008 - Indefinitely
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This exhibition features a group of decorative paintings by American artists Thomas Dewing (1851-1938) and Dwight Tryon (1849-1925) -- whose interest in surface beauty resonated with the work of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) -- and a selection of ceramics from the Detroit Pewabic Pottery to highlight the importance of surface beauty to Charles Lang Freer's aesthetic philosophy. Freer began collecting American paintings in the early 1890s and while his focus shifted to Asia by the turn of the century, his interest in tonal, textured surfaces remained constant, allowing him to establish "points of contact" between his Asian and American collections.
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Arts of the Islamic World
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- Indefinitely
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The arts of the Islamic world flourished in a vast geographic area extending from Morocco and Spain to the islands of Southeast Asia. Although distinct in their cultural, artistic, ethnic, and linguistic identities, the people of this region have shared one predominant faith, Islam. The works on view here represent the three principal media for artistic expression in the Islamic world: architecture (both religious and secular), the arts of the book (calligraphy, illustration, illumination, and bookbinding), and the arts of the object (ceramics, metalwork, glass, woodwork, textiles, and ivory).
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The Religious Art of Japan (rotating)
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- Indefinitely
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Important works from the Freer's collection of Japanese religious art are exhibited in several thematic rotations over a period of several years.
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Last update: June 30, 2009, 09:05
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