Object Details
Subject
Freer, Charles Lang 1854-1919
Platt, Charles A (Charles Adams) 1861-1933
Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art Building North Entrance
Freer Gallery of Art Building North Façade
Freer Gallery of Art Building South Façade
Freer Gallery of Art Building South Entrance
Category
Chronology of Smithsonian History
Notes
Ewing, H., & Ballard, A. (2009). A guide to Smithsonian architecture. Washington: Smithsonian Books.
Summary
Construction began on the Freer Gallery of Art in 1917. Built to house the extensive private Asian art collection of millionaire Charles Lang Freer, the museum was the first at the Smithsonian dedicated exclusively to fine arts collections.
Freer donated his entire collection to the Smithsonian, along with funds to build the museum, and additional money to fund study and research. He chose his colleague Charles A. Platt, an artist and landscape architect, to design the building.
Almost immediately after construction began, it was halted due to the United States' entry in to World War I. The museum was eventually completed and opened in 1923, but unfortunately Charles Freer did not live to see it.
The museum was designed in classic Renaissance style, and was heavily influenced by the sub-style Mannerism. It features a perfectly symmetrical and geometrical square frame. The facade has large pillars and semi-circular doorways, and the center of the building opens to a large courtyard. The exterior of the building displays recessed niches and decorative friezes, and an ornamental balustraded parapet can be seen on all four sides of the roof. The building material is a mix of Tennessee marble in the interior courtyard, and Stony Creek granite on the exterior.
Contact information
Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu
Date
1917-1923
Place
Washington (D.C.)
Data Source
Smithsonian Archives - History Div
Topic
Museum architecture
Architecture--Details
Marble
Architecture, Roman
Granite
Architecture--Washington (D.C.)
World War, 1914-1918
Art, Asian
Art, Chinese
Art, Japanese
Art museums
Mannerism (Architecture)
Architecture, Renaissance
Record ID
siris_sic_14436