CHARLES LANG FREER was a 19th century railroad-car building magnate (Peninsular Car Works) who made a fortune by the time he was 44 and then retired to collect art. The most important result of his efforts is the world's best collection of Chinese bronzes (outside China) at the Freer Gallery on Jefferson Drive in Washington, D.C.
In his collection, Freer was inspired, in part, by Painter James McNeill Whistler, who was his fast friend. Aroused by Whistler's love for Oriental art, Freer began to decorate his home with Japanese scrolls, Korean metalworks, Chinese bronzes....
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