Freer Gallery of Art - Freer's Gift and the Peacock Room

The Freer Gallery of Art opened in 1923 after industrialist Charles Lang Freer donated his collection and funded the museum building to house it. The gallery's collections emphasize Asian art and American art and include James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room, installed as a gallery centerpiece. The Freer was the first Smithsonian museum building constructed to house a private bequest and remains part of the Smithsonian Institution.