Existing comment:
Why Did They Collect?
Charles Freer and William Rockhill
Detroit industrialist and art collector Charles Lang Freer (1854–1919) was introduced to Asian art by American artist James McNeill Whistler. Freer traveled to Asia several times, bringing back prints, artworks, and books. Before his death, Freer donated his collection to the Smithsonian and helped establish the Freer Gallery. Freer's avid interest in collecting Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's prints, paintings, and drawings extended to his woodblock-printed books as well.
U.S. diplomat William Woodville Rockhill (1854–1914) immersed himself in Tibetan culture, design, and religion, collecting books and rare manuscripts about Central Asia. |