Evening star., 1919-10-05

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offered to deed to the nation his val
uable art collection. comprising
paintings and drawings by Whistler.
paintings by oriental artists of the
great periods. works of the best Japa-
nese potters, and bronzes, with the
| understanding that the collection re-
main in his possession as long as he
lived. His munificent gift was &C
cepted in January, 1906.
The collection has since been great
jly increased in size and IN Value anu
| the gift has been made to 1ncluoe
magnificent building to house the COL
lection and a munificent ENDOWMENT
for it's upkeep. This building, ae,
signed by Charles A. Platt ana erecteo
to the west of the Smithsonian lnstl-
| tuition. is at the preSeht ti'he ap
/ preaching completion.
Mr.. Freer had altered his mind with
regard to holding the collectlon our
| ing his lifetime and intended 10 .piace
it in the gallery in this city as soon
| as it was finished. His death last
week, when his plans of many years
were so nearly completed, seems
! therefore. doubly tragic.
! For years Mr.. Freer has given ms
1
bling this collection and planning tor
! its approaching exhibition. and as he
| planned the project evolved. At hrst
| it was thought that the Freer gar
| lery would be a small building Win
| but a few exhibition rooms. IN Whlch
only a part of the Freer coilectioh
could be shown at time. The gal
! lery which now stands on the Mall ~
| the right of the Smithsonian 1nstl-
- &c structure
a double series of exhibition rooms
| of generous proportions. surrounding
a paved court with a circular foun-
tain in the center. In floor area ana
in exhibition wall space this gallery
compares with some of the leading
museums and, though 1t is not SO
large as to be overpowering. it VIII
supply the visitor vast amount 10
examine and enjoy, and when fin
ished will take its place among the
beautiful treasure houses OF the
world.
The Freer collection is peculiarly
rich in works by Whistler and compre-
hends not only paintings in oil and
water color. pastels, etching and lltho-
graphs, but also the famous Peacock
room, which was purchased by Mr..
Freer from the original owner. taken
to Detroit and completely rebuilt. This
in time will be brought to Washington
and once more set up as in the Ley
land mansion.
With the Whistler paintings there
will be seen paintings by few Amer1-
found of a similar character, or at
least executed in a similar spirit
Thomas w. Dewing, who has painted
figures of young women with exquisite
refinement and consummate art; Abbott
H. Thayer, whose figure paintings are
h~fI .6.kIo ,@ ND
whose landscapes have a character all
their own. and D. w. Tryon, who has
interpreted landscape with exceeding
sympathy and delicacy. All of these
artists. like Whistler. were interpreta-
tive rather thar realistic painters, rem
dering mood and erect, regarding tex
lures and surface finish, relating val
ues, and SO producing harmonies of
tone and color.
Mr. Freer himself saw a subtle re-
lationship between the works of these
painters and the works of the great
potters of Japan, and his whole collec-
ton was assembled on this principle
When. for example. he would see a
piece of ancient Persian glass With
the same subtlety Of <Dolor and rela-
tion of tone he would acquire it; the
work under consideration might be in
metal, in clay, in wood, painting or
piece of sculpture. but it must up
belong to the same category. a kind of
aristocracy of art. Therefore, when
this collection is finally set forth. 1t
will be found homogeneous and related
as is almost no other collection in the
world. 1t will be a mecca for art low
noisseurs and students from all parts
of the world.
Roughly estimating, it will take per-
haps six months to finish the building
and another six months to install the
collection, but in another year it should
be open to the public.
In the Corcoran Gallery of Art
there is now on view a group of
etehings by Charles A. Platt, the
architect of the Freer Gallery and
of many other important and sig
nificant architectural works.
Mr.. Platt is member of the Com
mission of Fine Arts and an archi-
tect who in numerous cases has not
only designed a house. but also it's
landscape setting and himself at
tended to its furnishing. selecting
rare pieces of furniture or having
suitable pieces designed. He is. in
fact. universal genius. man to
whom art means not architecture.
painting or sculpture. but all of
these things and handicraft as well.
He has creative ability coupled with
visual imagination, and in the mat
ter of expression is able to use sew
eral mediums equally as well.
The etchings now on view in the
Corcoran Gallery and chiefly of boats
and buildings, and were done some
years ago. They have subjective
charm and real beauty of rendering,
certain sureness of touch indicated
bNly HpyrN of u
and delicacy. To the uninitiated as
well as to the knowing they make
appeal.
/ The exhibition of water colors by
William H. Holmes, in the Corcoran
Gallery of Art during September. has
been extended for a fortnight long
er. Fifteen of the paintings are
marked sold" and those who care
to own works of art of reai- charm
and merit are offered exceptional op-
portunity here. for Mr.. Holmes
works compare with the best of the
foremost artists
There is great variety in this ex-
hibition; many of the subjects have
been found at far distant places, but
none are more charming than those
painted in the vicinity Of WasI,inn-
ton. near Mr.. Holmes fcrine- coun-
try house. at Rockville, and along
the stretches of the upper Potomac.
1t is true that there is NJ deartt OF
subjects. no lack of love.iaess in ma
ture. but 1t needs the trained artist
and the sympathetic eye to observe
and trans.ribe this latent bcauty.
which .is often passed unseen.
Painting to Mr.. Holmes is a recrea-