Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery World War II Era Provenance Project and Asian Art Provenance Research Resources
Dorota Chudzicka, Provenance Research Associate David Hogge, Head of Archives Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery The Smithsonian’s Museums of Asian Art Washington, DC
Delivered at “New Era of Collaboration and Digitized Resources: World War II Provenance Research Seminar,” May 6-7, 2011 Freer Gallery of Art, north façade, c. 1923 Freer Gallery of Art, Freer Gallery of Art Building Records Chinese art installation, gallery 13, 1923 F|S Archives, Smithsonian Institution F|S Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, c. 1987 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, F|S Archives, Smithsonian Institution South and South East Asian Art gallery, c. 1987 F|S Archives, Smithsonian Institution A. L. Coburn, Freer (1854-1919) comparing Whistler’s Venus Rising from the Sea to an Islamic glazed ceramic pot, 1909 F|S Archives, Smithsonian Institution
James McNeill Whistler, Portrait of Charles Lang Freer, 1902, oil on wood panel, 51.8 x 31.7 cm (20 3/8 x 12 1/2 in) Freer Gallery of Art, F1903.301 Freer Gallery of Art, Whistler and His Circle in Venice installation, 2003 Acquisitions for the Freer Gallery’s collection
Beaker Jar Pair of supports in the form of tigers Canteen Iran, Seljuq period, early 13th c. China, Henan province, Anyang China, Shaanxi province, Baoji Xian Probably northern Iraq Purchase, F1928.2 late 13th-early 12th c. BCE 900-850 BCE Ayyubid dynasty, mid-14th c. Purchase, F1939.42 Purchase, F1935.21-22 Purchase, F1941.10
Lion, Ch’l-lin, and Dragon Set Ritual grain server (gui) Round axe (qibi) Incense burner in a Floral Spray China, ca. 1045 BCE China, 12th-11th c. BCE China, Henan or Hebei Turkey, Ottoman period, mid-16th c. Gift of Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer, Gift of Eugene and province, ca. 2nd c. BCE Purchase, F1948.17 F1968.29 Agnes E. Meyer, F1970.39 Purchase, F1947.15
Cranes Itō Jakuchū (1719- 1800) Figure of a seated Japan, Edo period, ca. woman 1775-90 China, first half of Purchase– Shiva Vinadhara 8th c. Mary Livingston Griggs India, Tamil Purchase–Friends of and Mary Griggs Burke Nadu, ca. 950 the Freer and Foundation Purchase, Sackler Galleries, F1997.25.1-2 F1997.28 F2001.8 Chimera (bixie) China, Eastern Han dynasty, ca. 25-220 Jade, 8.1 x 13.9 x 3.8 cm Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S1987.26
Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), c. 1985 Photograph by Henry Groskinsky F|S Archives, Smithsonian Institution Ritual wine container (you) Rhyton China, Shang dynasty, ca. 13th-12th c. BCE. Iran or Afghanistan, 4th c. Bronze, 30.1 x 12.2 x 12.5 cm Silver and gilt, 15.5 x 25.4 x 14.1 cm Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S1987.23 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, S1987.33 Cologne 1926 Berlin 1929 London 1935-36
Stockholm 1933 Paris 1937 Smithsonian Institution, Provenance in the World War II Era http://provenance.si.edu/jsp/index.aspx Ritual grain server (gui) Early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. late 11th-early 10th c. BCE Bronze, 28.1 x 34 x 24.4 cm Freer Gallery of Art, F1938.20 Ritual grain server (gui) Early Western Zhou dynasty, ca. late 11th-early 10th c. BCE Bronze, 28.1 x 34 x 24.4 cm Freer Gallery of Art, F1938.20
A Descriptive and Illustrative Catalogue of Chinese Bronzes, Washington 1946 The Freer and Sackler Galleries World War II Era Provenance Project http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/ww2provenance.asp The Freer and Sackler Galleries World War II Era Provenance Project http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/ww2provenance.asp The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
“The ample study rooms and the varied nature of the collection to go into the Freer unit, will attract scholars from distant countries as well as from far away points in the United States, and it could, I believe, become eventually, a very valuable educational asset.”
Charles Lang Freer Letter to Secretary Walcott, Sept. 9th, 1919. The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
What we are: •A repository of original research documents •Part of a resource center for the study of Asian and Middle Eastern art and culture The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
What we collect: •Personal and professional papers of collectors, dealers, archaeologists and scholar who have participated in the West’s encounter with Asian art. •Photographic materials with research value The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Collectors The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Charles Lang Freer Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Charles Lang Freer Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Charles Lang Freer Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Henri Vever Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Henri Vever Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Paul Singer Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Dealers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Yatsuhashi Harumichi Family Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives C.T. Loo family photographs The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives C.T. Loo family photographs The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives C.T. Loo family photographs The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Archaeologists The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Archaeological Expeditions in China The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Carl Whiting Bishop Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Li Chi Manuscripts The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Ernst Herzfeld Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Ernst Herzfeld Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Ernst Herzfeld Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Scholars The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Benjamin March Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Myron Bement Smith Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives James Cahill Papers The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Photographs The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives Photographs