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Charles Lang Freer selected papers, 1876-1931

Catalog Data

Creator:
Freer, Charles Lang, 1856-1919  Search this
Subject:
Whistler, James McNeill  Search this
Bacher, Otto H. (Otto Henry)  Search this
Berenson, Bernard  Search this
Bing, Siegfried  Search this
Binyon, Laurence  Search this
Bixby, William K. (William Keeney)  Search this
Bosch-Reitz, Sigisbert Chrétien  Search this
Caffin, Charles Henry  Search this
Campbell, Colin, Lord  Search this
Campbell, Colin, Lady  Search this
Chase, William Merritt  Search this
Church, Frederick S. (Frederick Stuart)  Search this
Churchill, Alfred Vance  Search this
Canfield, Richard A. (Richard Albert)  Search this
Coburn, Alvin Langdon  Search this
Dewing, Thomas Wilmer  Search this
Dow, Arthur W. (Arthur Wesley)  Search this
Fenollosa, Ernest Francisco  Search this
Gallatin, A. E. (Albert Eugene)  Search this
Gellatly, John  Search this
Gookin, Frederick William  Search this
Hartmann, Sadakichi  Search this
Hecker, Frank J. (Frank Joseph)  Search this
Kelekian, Dikran  Search this
Laufer, Berthold  Search this
McCormick, Frederick  Search this
Matsuki, Bunkio  Search this
Melchers, Gari  Search this
Meyer, Agnes Elizabeth Ernst  Search this
Meyer, Eugene  Search this
Moore, Charles  Search this
Nomura, Yozo  Search this
Philip, Rosalind Birnie  Search this
Reid, Alexander  Search this
Rhoades, Katharine N.  Search this
Platt, Charles A. (Charles Adams)  Search this
Roosevelt, Theodore  Search this
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus  Search this
Steichen, Edward  Search this
Stieglitz, Alfred  Search this
Thayer, Abbott Handerson  Search this
Tryon, Dwight William  Search this
Walcott, Charles D. (Charles Doolittle)  Search this
Warring, Joseph Stephens  Search this
Way, Thomas R. (Thomas Robert)  Search this
Whistler, Beatrix Philip Godwin  Search this
Wong, K. T.  Search this
Yue, Seaouke  Search this
Freer Gallery of Art  Search this
Smithsonian Institution  Search this
M. Knoedler & Co.  Search this
Yamanaka & Company  Search this
Place of publication, production, or execution:
Other
Physical Description:
34 Microfilm reels
Arrangement:
All correspondence except letterpress books: arranged alphabetically by correspondent; letterpress books are chonological.
Access Note / Rights:
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Summary:
Papers concerning Freer's art collecting activities, including correspondence, diaries, art inventories, scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeil Whistler and other press clippings, and photographs. In addition to Freer's own correspondence, the papers include correspondence collected by Freer of James McNeill Whistler and of Whistler collector Richard A. Canfield, correspondence of Freer's assistant Katharine Nash Rhoades, and correspondence regarding Freer's bequest to the Smithsonian Institution.
Correspondence, ca. 1860-1921, includes Freer's correspondence, 1876-1920, with artists, dealers, collectors, museums, and public figures; 30 v. of letterpress books containing copies of letters sent, 1892-1910; correspondence collected by Freer of James McNeill Whistler, and his wife Beatrix, 186?-1909, with Lady Colin Campbell, Thomas R. Way, Alexander Reid, Whistler' mother, Mrs. George W. Whistler, and others; correspondence of Whistler collector Richard A. Canfield, 1904-1913, regarding works in Canfield's collection; and correspondence of Freer's assistant, Katharine Nash Rhoades, 1920-1921, soliciting Freer letters and regarding the settlement of his estate.
Also included are twenty-nine pocket diaries, 1889-1890, 1892-1898, 1900-1919, recording daily activities, people and places visited, observations, and comments; a diary kept by Freer's caretaker, Joseph Stephens Warring, recording daily activities at Freer's Detroit home, 1907-1910;
Inventories, n.d. and 1901-1921, of American, European, and Asian art in Freer's collection, often including provenance information; vouchers, 1884-1919, documenting his purchases; five volumes of scrapbooks of clippings on James McNeill Whistler, 1888-1931, labeled "Various," "Peacock Room," "Death, etc.," "Paris, etc.," and "Boston...London" ; three volumes of newsclippings, 1900-1930, concerning Freer and the opening of the Freer Gallery of Art;
correspondence regarding Freer's gift and bequest to the Smithsonian Institution, 1902-1916; and photographs, ca. 1880-1930, of Freer, including portraits by Alvin Langdon Coburn and Edward Steichen, Freer with others, Freer in Cairo, China and Japan, Freer's death mask, and his memorial service, Kyoto, 1930; photographs of artists and others, including Thomas Dewing, Ernest Fenellosa, Katharine Rhoades taken by Alfred Stieglitz, Rosalind B. Philip, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Abbott H. Thayer, Dwight Tryon, and Whistler; and photographs relating to Whistler, including art works depicting him, grave and memorial monuments, works of art, the Peacock Room, and Whistler's memorial exhibition at the Copley Society.
Among Freer's correspondents are: Otto Bacher, Bernard Berenson, Siegfried Bing, Laurence Binyon, W.K. Bixby, Sigisbert Chretien Bosch-Reitz, Charles H. Caffin, Colin Campbell, Richard Canfield, William Merritt Chase, Frederick Stuart Church, Alfred Vance Churchill, Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Arthur Wesley Dow, Ernest Fenollosa, Albert Gallatin, John Gellatly, Frederick W. Gookin, Sadakichi Hartmann, Frank J. Hecker, Dikran Kelekian, M. Knoedler & Co., Berthold Laufer, Lien Hui Ching Collection, W.A. Livingstone, Frederick McCormick, Bunkio Matsuki, Gari Melchers, Agnes Meyer, Eugene Meyer, Charles Moore, Yozo Nomura, Rosalind Birnie Philip, Charles A. Platt, Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the Smithsonian Institution, Joseph Stephens Warring, Thomas Way, Abbott Handerson Thayer, Dwight W. Tryon, Charles Walcott of the Smithsonian Institution, Beatrix Whistler, James McNeill Whistler, K.T. Wong, Yamanaka & Co., and Seaouke Yue.
Citation:
Charles Lang Freer selected papers, 1876-1931. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
35mm microfilm reels 4720-4753 available for use at Archives of American Art offices, the Freer Gallery of Art/Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives, and through interlibrary loan.
Location of Originals:
Originals in: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives
Loan:
Loan
Biography Note:
Art collector; Detroit, Michigan. Collected Asian, American, and European art, including a large collection of works by James McNeill Whistler. Founded the Freer Gallery of Art, which is now part of the Smithsonian Institution.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
Selected for microfilming from the Charles Lang Freer papers at the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Microfilmed 1992 by the Archives of American Art with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Fellowships and Grants Research Resources Program. Portions of the correspondence and the letterpress books were previously filmed by the Freer in the 1970 (AAA reels 77, 453-456, and 1217-1232); those reels have been replaced by this microfilming project. See Finding Aid for information on papers not selected for microfilming.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Art, American -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Art -- Collectors and collecting  Search this
Theme:
Diaries  Search this
Patronage  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)11003
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)214908
AAA_collcode_freechar
Theme:
Diaries
Patronage
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_coll_214908