Existing comment:
1854: Charles Lang Freer is born in Kingston, New York.
1880: Freer moves to Detroit with business partner Frank Hecker and launches Peninsular Car Works. After a series of mergers, it becomes American Car and Foundry (left) in 1899.
1887: After collector Howard Mansfield introduces him to the work of American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler. Freer purchases his first set of Whistler etching later that year.
1890: Freer hires architect Wilson Eyre to design a shingle-style house on Ferry Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. For the next four years he works closely with artists and craftsmen to decorate his home. |