Evening star., 1921-11-27
Rate by Mail-Payable in Advance.
MARYLAND and virginia.
The Freer Gallery.


- Inconspicuously placed in the Smith
Ssonian section of the Mall. just to the
, west and south Of the old red stone
building that marks the gift Of John
, sSmithson for the development of
! science in America, stands the new
, Freer Gallery Of Art, not yet open to
the public. This addition to the capi.
= tails attractions, the gift of the late
Charles L. Freer Of Detroit. is per-
b haps but the first Of a group Of similar
= Institutions. The Commission of Fine
,. Arts. in its admirable annual report
on the development Of Washington,
expresses this thought, saying that
the Freer Gallery ''is a type Of the
small adequately housed and well en-
dowed galleries which doubtless will
be established from time to time by
=, private individuals and given to the
nation to be administered by the
Smithsonian Institution for the in
.struction and qualification Of the
: taste of the people"
The location Of the Freer Gallery in
this city has been the result Of the in
terest and influence of the chairman
,rof the Commission of Fine Arts,
Charles Moore. He was first instru-
mental in securing from Mr.. Freer a
.ebequest to the Smithsonian of the
famous Whistler peacock room and
=. collection of Whistler paintings and
etchings, then established at Detroit,
ito be brought here after Mr.. Freer's
death. Eventually, by successive
changes Of plan. the entire collection
>, given outright for immediate estab-
lishment here, s1,0O0,O00 was given
for the construction of a suitable gal
,r lery building and an endowment fund
twas created to provide for enlarge
,ments and additions to the collection.
.i Unfortunately Mr.. Freer died before
the completion of the building and the
emplacement Of the collection. His
Z example, however. serves as an in
!, spiration to other Americans Of wealth
:, to select Washington, the capital, as
: the proper place for their art collec-
tions, the place where they can be
seen by the people Of all parts Of the
reountry, and where. as the commits
Tsion's report says. they will make for
-, ,"the instruction and qualification Of
sthe taste of the people"
~ 1t is the opinion Of those versed in
matters of art exhibition that small
galleries are better than large ones.
. that immense collections such as those
in the Louvre in Paris and the Ma
tional Gallery in London and other
r. great art assemblages do not produce
.sthe best effect. The Freer Gallery will
be Of the highest grade in quality. 1t
!; will have in it's own range no superior
In the world. and it's wonders can be
quickly appreciated by visitors, who
will take from it lasting, distinct i'm
!, pressions that are not given by larger
collections.
9" Washington is destined to be an i'm
portant art center. 1t has now two
excellent galleries. the Corcoran and
the National. The Freer will soon be
added to them. Other privately as
sembled collections will, it is under
=. stood, in the near future be opened to
the public here, perhaps in specially
provided buildings. In the develop
ment of this foundation it naturally
follows that facilities for instruction
will come, and that the schools Of art
now established here will be strength
ened and equipped to attract to Wash
ington large numbers Of students from
different parts Of the country. Wash
ington has already the proper atmos-
aphere for art work. 1t includes a
large number Of eminent painters and
sculptors, and with the galleries now
in existence and soon to be available
1t is probable that in few years this
city will. as respects creative art work,
be the Paris of America.