Smithsonian`s Freer│Sackler explores chapters of James McNeill Whistler`s life in two exhibitions
(Artdaily.org)

Charles Lang Freer first met James McNeill Whistler when he visited the artist’s London home in 1890 to inquire about collecting more of Whistler’s artwork. This encounter spurred a historic and extraordinary friendship between the two men—a friendship that not only inspired Freer to emerge as Whistler’s foremost American champion, but also served as the catalyst for the creation of the Freer Gallery of Art. “‘Whistler in Watercolor’ and ‘The Peacock Room in Blue and White,’ like our museum today, narrate a story that is at once distinctly American and thoroughly global,” said Chase F. Robinson, the Dame Jillian Sackler Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art. “ Through these exhibitions, visitors will experience a collector’s journey. To sustain our commitment to exploring such journeys and to scholarship, conservation and