goSmithsonian - June 2008 - (Page 46)

THE BASICS HOURS: 10 to 5:30; closed December 25. ADDRESS: Jefferson Drive at 12th Street, SW PHONE: 202.633.1000 (voice/tape) 202.633.5285 (TTY) WEB: www.asia.si.edu METRO: Freer Gallery of Art The Freer Gallery of Art, named for Detroit industrialist Charles Lang Freer, boasts an internationally renowned collection of Asian art and is home to the world’s largest holdings of works by the American artist James McNeill Whistler. Freer became interested in Asian art through his friendship with Whistler, whose work had been strongly influenced by Japanese prints and Chinese ceramics. In 1906, Freer donated 7,500 paintings, sculptures, drawings and works in metal, lacquer and jade to the Smithsonian, along with endowment funds. Today, the collection has grown to 24,000 works. M metro ● ● Smithsonian (ORANGE AND BLUE LINES) ® TIPS • Daily free tours begin at the information desk at 12:15, except Wednesdays and holidays. Tours are subject to docent availability. Check out the museum’s gallery talks fea• turing curators and guest speakers. Ask at the information desk for details. Reservations are required for tour groups • of ten or more, foreign language tours and sign-language interpreters. Call 202633-1012 or e-mail asiatours@si.edu. A 13th-century ivory throne leg from India can be seen in the exhibition “Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas” on Level 3. Wooden Kongorikishi warriors (Japan, 11851333) can be found at either end of the corridor on the National Mall side of the building. Children take special delight in imitating the figures’ expression. WHAT’S GOING ON The Freer offers a rich program of Asia-related films, concerts, dance performances and lectures in the Meyer Auditorium. Pick up a calendar of these free events at the information desk, call 202-633-1000 or visit www.asia.si.edu. EXHIBITIONS “Guests of the Hills: Travelers in Chinese Landscape Painting” (opens Aug. 23); “Japanese Arts of the Edo Period, 1615-1868, Part Two” (through Sept. 7); “Tea for Everyone: Japanese Popular Ceramics for Tea Drinking” (through Sept. 7); “Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia” (through 2010). HIGHLIGHTS In “Arts of the Islamic W orld” see a collection of brass bowls, candlesticks, folios from the Koran and other objects dating from the 9th to 17th centuries. 46 www.goSmithsonian.com COURTESY OF THE FREER GALLERY OF ART (2) http://www.asia.si.edu http://www.asia.si.edu http://www.goSmithsonian.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of goSmithsonian - June 2008

goSmithsonian - June 2008 Contents Visitor Information Smithsonian Institution Building—The Castle The S. Dillon Ripley International Gallery Dining Guide Donald W. Reynolds Center Smithsonian American Art Museum National Portrait Gallery National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Discovery Theater, SITES, Folklife Festival and more National Museum of American History Map of the National Mall National Museum of Natural History National Museum of the American Indian Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Asian Art Freer Gallery of Art/Asian and American Art Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden/Contemporary and Modern Art National Museum of African Art Renwick Gallery/American Art National Postal Museum Anacostia Community Museum National Zoological Park

goSmithsonian - June 2008

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