Whistler and the Peacock Room Thursday, May 8, 2008, 1:15 pm The famed Peacock Room was once the London dining room of wealthy shipowner Frederick Leyland. Hear the intriguing story of Leyland, American artist James McNeill Whistler, and the controversial decoration of the Peacock Room. Explore other works by Whistler in the Freer's American art galleries, and find out how Whistler influenced Charles Lang Freer's own aesthetic sensibility and collecting. The Compassionate Art of Indian Temple Sculpture Saturday, May 10, 2008, 1:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Video Screening and Conversation. 1 pm Meyer Auditorium Gallery Talk. 2:30 pm. Freer galleries 1 and 2 Art historian and filmmaker Benoy K. Behl discusses connections among aesthetics, philosophy, religion, and architecture in Indian life. He then screens one of his documentaries and leads a question-and-answer session on the sculpture of India. Later join Behl for a gallery talk in the Freer to learn more about Indian temple sculpture. Sacred Arts of Asia Monday, May 19, 2008, 1:15 pm Examine works of art originally created for worship in various Asian religious traditions. Learn how visual characteristics of these art forms reflect key principles and practices associated with each religion. Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and Himalayas Thursday, May 22, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer Info Desk View and discuss the Freer Gallery's important collection of sculpture, paintings, and drawings created in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. Discover how the arts of this region are closely intertwined with many religious traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Jainism. Arts of Japan Thursday, May 1, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer info desk Sunday, May 11, 2008, 2:15 pm Friday, May 23, 2008, 1:15 pm Travel to Japan through the Freer Gallery's unparalleled collection of screens, paintings, lacquerware, prints, ceramics, and sculpture. Look closely at Japanese works of art and learn about their importance in Japanese history and culture, past and present. Meet at the Freer info desk. Arts of China Friday, May 16, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Thursday, May 29, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Chinese art has flourished from the Neolithic period into the twenty-first century. Discover the richness and diversity of Chinese art, from ceramics, lacquerware, painting, and calligraphy to ancient bronzes and jades. Meet at the Freer information desk. Meet the Author: Grant Hayter-Menzies Thursday, May 29, 2008, 7:00 pm, Freer Conference Room Plan to spend a lively evening with author Grant Hayter-Menzies as he reads from and discusses his latest book, Imperial Masquerade: The Legend of Princess Der Ling. This colorful yet historically accurate biography of Princess Der Ling (a.k.a. Mrs. Elizabeth Antoinette White), a twentieth-century writer during the Qing dynasty, explores her legacy as a witness to history (and as an apologist of the much-reviled Empress Dowager Cixi). The princess herself was a figure of controversy—arguments over her continue to rage in and outside of China to this very day. A book signing follows. Surface Beauty Monday, May 5, 2008, 1:15 pm Tuesday, May 13, 2008, 1:15 pm Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 1:15 pm Thursday, May 22, 2008, 2:15 pm Saturday, May 31, 2008, 2:15 pm In the late nineteenth century, museum founder Charles Lang Freer worked closely with American artists Dwight William Tryon and Thomas Wilmer Dewing to design his home in Detroit as "a dream of beauty--inside and out." Close examination of paintings by these artists and others reveals Freer’s interest in creating a total aesthetic environment through decorative, visually interesting surfaces. Explore the ways Freer detected "points of contact" between these paintings and Asian art and how these connections shaped his personal collection and the museum he bequeathed to the Smithsonian. The John A. Pope Memorial Lecture: Below the Surface: Discovering the Historical Depth of Thailand's Most Famous Kiln Site Sunday, June 1, 2008, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium Archaeologist Dr. Don Hein relates how superficial descriptions of the famed Sawankhalok ceramic production center in northern Thailand delayed recognition of its true significance and complexity. Through Hein's study of its layers of kilns, Sawankhalok now represents a dramatic sequence of changes—from modest beginnings in the thirteenth century, to a paramount position in international export trade, and finally, decline. This lecture celebrates the exhibition Taking Shape and the launch of the museum's first online catalogue, Ceramics in Mainland Southeast Asia: Collections in the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Wondrous Wardrobes and Marvelous Margins Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 12:00 pm, Sackler Sublevel 1 Art historian Molly Aitken looks at the range and use of ornament in Mughal album pages on display in the Muraqqa‘ exhibition. Discover the meanings behind imperial jewelry, textiles, and album border decoration, and learn about the artist's role in the royal workshops. Bhutan Traditions: Kunzang Choden Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium A leading authority on Bhutanese culture shares her personal experiences from growing up in the Himalayas. Kunzang Choden wrote Folktales of Bhutan and Bhutan Tales of the Yeti. Her 2005 novel Circle of Karma follows a feisty young girl who leaves her family and travels far from home, much as the author did on horseback at age twelve. Kunzang Choden reads from her books and offers insights into Bhutanese life and society, including its unusual matriarchal system. Part of the 2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The Benjamin Zucker Lecture on Mughal Art: Mughal and Rajput Lives: Elite Culture in 16th- and 17th-Century North India Saturday, June 28, 2008, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium For this year's Benjamin Zucker lecture, Dr. Catherine B. Asher, a renowned scholar of Mughal art, discusses the cosmopolitan court cultures of northern India at the height of Mughal imperial power. Her talk expands upon many of the themes seen in Muraqqa‘: Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin Extraordinary Tales of China's Yellow Mountain Sunday, June 8, 2008, 2:00 pm, Sackler Sublevel 1 Sunday, June 29, 2008, 2:00 pm, Sackler Sublevel 1 Follow award-winning storyteller Linda Fang through the exhibition Yellow Mountain: China's Ever-Changing Landscape. Fang introduces paintings and prints of one of China's most beautiful mountains and presents incredible stories of the most breathtaking locations. Moving through Mountains with Chinese Poets Saturday, July 19, 2008, 2:00 pm, Sackler Sublevel 1 Chinese writers used travel writing, poetry, and prose to record their personal interaction with the vast landscape. Jonathan Chaves, professor of Chinese at George Washington University, reads English translations of literature from the Ming and Qing periods. His book, Pilgrim of the Clouds: Poems and Essays from Ming China, was nominated for the National Book Award in Translation. Moving through Mountains with Chinese Artists Sunday, July 20, 2008, 1:00 pm, Sackler Sublevel 1 Curator Joseph Chang examines the fascinating ways painters of the late Ming and early Qing periods depicted famous locations on China's Yellow Mountain. Arts of China Monday, June 30, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer info desk Tuesday, July 1, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Chinese art has flourished from the Neolithic period into the twenty-first century. Discover the richness and diversity of Chinese art, from ceramics, lacquerware, painting, and calligraphy to ancient bronzes and jades. Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and Himalayas Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Friday, July 11, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Thursday, July 24, 2008, 11:15 am, Freer info desk View and discuss the Freer Gallery's important collection of sculpture, paintings, and drawings created in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and Tibet. Discover how the arts of this region are closely intertwined with many religious traditions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Jainism. The Monument of the Book Saturday, August 2, 2008, 1:00 pm, Sackler Sublevel 1 Mughal emperors considered these albums to be projections of their royal power, in keeping with the building of grand forts, palaces, and temples. Explore how these portraits depict the hyper-natural role of emperors and their ability to move between human and divine worlds. Part of the "Patchworks of Power" Gallery Tour Series. Join Dr. Jason Freitag, professor of history at Ithaca College, on these tours of the exhibition Muraqqa‘: Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. See how Mughal images of imperial power and religion are intertwined in these intriguing albums. The Shroud of the Sufi Sunday, August 3, 2008, 1:00 pm, Sackler Sublevel 1 Gain an historical and global perspective on Sufism and its role in Mughal culture, society, and politics. Learn about the tradition of shrouding and its relationship to the cosmos. Part of the "Patchworks of Power" Gallery Tour Series. Join Dr. Jason Freitag, professor of history at Ithaca College, on these tours of the exhibition Muraqqa‘: Imperial Mughal Albums from the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. See how Mughal images of imperial power and religion are intertwined in these intriguing albums. Surface Beauty Tuesday, August 5, 2008, 11:15 am, Freer info desk Thursday, August 14, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer info desk In the late nineteenth century, museum founder Charles Lang Freer worked closely with American artists Dwight William Tryon and Thomas Wilmer Dewing to design his home in Detroit as "a dream of beauty--inside and out." Close examination of paintings by these artists and others reveals Freer’s interest in creating a total aesthetic environment through decorative, visually interesting surfaces. Explore the ways Freer detected "points of contact" between these paintings and Asian art and how these connections shaped his personal collection and the museum he bequeathed to the Smithsonian. Sacred Arts of Asia Saturday, July 26, 2008, 2:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Monday, August 25, 2008, 1:15 pm, Freer info desk Examine works of art originally created for worship in various Asian religious traditions. Learn how visual characteristics of these art forms reflect key principles and practices associated with each religion. Arts of Japan Friday, June 20, 2008, 1:15 pm Thursday, July 31, 2008, 2:15 pm Saturday, August 9, 2008, 2:15 pm Friday, August 29, 2008, 11:15 pm Travel to Japan through the Freer Gallery's unparalleled collection of screens, paintings, lacquerware, prints, ceramics, and sculpture. Look closely at Japanese works of art and learn about their importance in Japanese history and culture, past and present. Meet at the Freer info desk. Whistler and the Peacock Room Sunday, July 6, 2008, 2:15 pm, Freer Info Desk Thursday, July 17, 2008, 11:15 am, Freer info desk Saturday, August 30, 2008, 2:15 pm The famed Peacock Room was once the London dining room of wealthy shipowner Frederick Leyland. Hear the intriguing story of Leyland, American artist James McNeill Whistler, and the controversial decoration of the Peacock Room. Explore other works by Whistler in the Freer's American art galleries, and find out how Whistler influenced Charles Lang Freer's own aesthetic sensibility and collecting. Group Tours Find information about tours for adult and student groups. To schedule a reserved tour, use our online form. Podcasts Listen to concerts at the Freer, storytelling, and curatorial conversations. Support Us Your support helps to make our free tours and lectures possible. Click here to make an online donation. 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