Chinese Buddhist Art Recalls Freer's Passion

ARTFIX DAILY
Chinese Buddhist fresco, Song Dynasty. Lot 38, Gianguan Auctions, December 9, 2017
WASHINGTON, DC---When the 12th century Chinese fresco “Water-Moon Guanyin” comes to the podium at Gianguan Auctions on December 9, it will be a poignant reminder of the esteem in which Chinese Buddhist art was held by Charles Lang Freer, one of the great 20th century collectors and founder of the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. According to a 2016 paper by the Peabody-Essex Museum’s Curator Daisy Yiyou Wang, the works of Chinese Buddhist art “were the crowning achievement of the (Freer) collection.“ The Buddhist tradition continues across all categories, including ceramics. [More]