One of my favorite museums in a city chock full of museums and at a place that is literally lined with museums is Freer Gallery of Art. Sometimes referred to as the Freer-Sackler in recognition of a major addition completed in 1987 with generous support from Arthur M. Sackler both monetarily ($4,000,000) and artistically (his Asian art collection valued at $50,000,000)--but I digress. The impetus and namesake of the museum comes from Gilded Age industrialist, Charles Lang Freer, who made his money building railroad cars in Detroit. In the late 1800's he turned his interests to collecting art and amassed a formidable collection of Asian Art as well of paintings and drawings by a select group of contemporary artists like Whistler, Dewing, Thayer and Sargent.
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Freer designed the museum after an Italian Villa with a fountain in a
central courtyard surrounded with a generous loggia. |
I love going to this museum because not only is so much of the art expressing the tranquil and the sublime, but it's often overlooked by the hoards of tandem pram pushers and children laden adults of summer tourism season. Like the art within it's galleries, it is a properly reflective.
On this occasion, I will share with you just a couple of galleries. The works are arranged by en large by geographic region and then in some instances by medium or mode of presentation. Among the first galleries that you will encounter are a pair of rooms displaying a small portion of the museum's Indian Subcontinent works. Most are forms of sculpture, but there are also works on paper, ceramic and metallurgy items. The works are arranged along themes of the meaning of the body-soul in the cultural life and religions of the regions. And the information provided with the art is extremely interesting and informative. I will include some of those as well.
A description of the knife on the right above--fascinating, right?
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Nandi [Shiva's trusted Bull]
Indian, state of Tamil Nadu
Chola dynasty, 12th century |
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Shiva, Lord of Dance (Nataraja)
India, state of Tamil Nadu
Chola dynasty, circa 990 CE |
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| Statue annotation from museum placard |
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| The Enlightenment of the Buddha |
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| The Buddha Enters Nirvana |
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| Jain Shrine of Parshvanatha |
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Bodhisattva White Avalokiteshvara
(Amoghapasha Lokeshvara) |
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Siddhapratima Yantra
(Shrine of a Perfected Being) |
On this occasion, I will share with you just a couple of galleries. The works are arranged by en large by geographic region and then in some instances by medium or mode of presentation. Among the first galleries that you will encounter are a pair of rooms displaying a small portion of the museum's Indian Subcontinent works. Most are forms of sculpture, but there are also works on paper, ceramic and metallurgy items. The works are arranged along themes of the meaning of the body-soul in the cultural life and religions of the regions. And the information provided with the art is extremely interesting and informative. I will include some of those as well.
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