Freer Gallery Of Art

Lonely Planet review

One of the two components of the National Museum of Asian Art (the other half is the Sackler Gallery), the Freer Gallery offers an incredible ensemble of ancient ceramics, Japanese screen paintings, and centuries-old Chinese scrolls. The Freer's Asian art collection (one of the world's finest) was a gift from Charles Lang Freer.

This Detroit industrialist and self-taught connoisseur assembled an incredible collection of ancient ceramics, screen paintings, sculpture and musical instruments from China, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Near East, which are now on display at the Freer Gallery, built in 1923 to house the collection. He was also a fan of James McNeill Whistler, whose works appear here too. The museum's famed Peacock Room, originally designed by Whistler for a London ship owner, features gilded murals and an elaborate system of wood shelving that displays prized Chinese porcelains - well worth exploring.

It's hard to say which is better, the Freer or the Sackler, they kind of compliment each other and should be visited in tandem. If you're short on time, try to dip quickly into a shorter exhibit in each.