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Catalog Data

Creator:
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Curatorial - Chinese Art  Search this
Subject:
Cahill, James 1926-2014  Search this
So, Jenny F  Search this
Fu, Shen 1937-  Search this
Lovell, Hin-cheung  Search this
Lodge, John Ellerton 1876-1942  Search this
Lawton, Thomas 1931-  Search this
Stuart, Jan 1955-  Search this
Wenley, A. G (Archibald Gibson) 1898-1962  Search this
Bishop, Carl Whiting 1881-1942  Search this
Chang, Joseph  Search this
Trousdale, William  Search this
Allee, Stephen D  Search this
Wilson, J. Keith  Search this
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Office of the Director  Search this
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Chief Curator  Search this
Freer Gallery of Art  Search this
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Curatorial - Ceramics  Search this
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Senior Research Scholar  Search this
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)  Search this
Type:
Mixed archival materials
Date:
1920
1920-
Category:
Agency History
Notes:
This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
Beyond the Legacy, 1920-1998
Smithsonian Annals, 1920-1997
Smithsonian Directory, 1999
Curatorship of the Chinese art collection of the Freer Gallery of Art began in 1920, when the first Director, John Ellerton Lodge was hired. During the period when Lodge and his staff curated the Far Eastern art collections, the curatorial staff was small, curatorial areas and titles were less defined, and visiting curators were used to help maintain the collection. Both Lodge and Archibald Gibson Wenley, the following Director, were American pioneers in Chinese art, language, and history and used their expertise to study and make additions to the Chinese art collection during their tenures.
Lodge and his staff curated the Far Eastern art collections from 1920 to 1942, when he died. Notable on this staff was Carl Whiting Bishop who made two trips to China in the interest of creating a more favorable environment for American research. He was Associate Curator, 1929-1934, and Assistant in Archeology from 1934 until his death in 1942. One of Bishop's field assistants in China was Wenley, who was undergoing an intensive, seven-year education program in Far Eastern arts and language designed by Lodge himself. Wenley served as Associate in Research, 1942-1943 and Director, 1943-1962. James Cahill served as Associate Curator, Chinese Art, 1956-1965. Then William Trousdale was Associate Curator, Chinese Art from 1965-1967. Next, Thomas Lawton served as Assistant Curator, Chinese Art, 1968-1969; Associate Curator, Chinese Art, 1969-1970; Curator, Chinese Art, 1970-1972; Assistant Director, 1972-1977; and Director, 1977-1987. Lawton retired in 1987 in order to focus on the study of Ancient Chinese art, which he continued to do as Senior Research Scholar from 1987 to 2001. Hin-cheung Lovell served as Assistant Curator, Chinese Art, 1969-1974, and Associate Curator, Chinese Art, 1974-1979. Shen Fu was Associate Curator, Chinese Art from 1979-1983, and Curator, Chinese Art, 1983-1994. Jan Stuart became Assistant Curator, Chinese Art in 1988 and served until 2006. Stuart returned to be the Melvin R. Seiden Curator of Chinese Art in 2014. Jenny F. So served as Associate Curator, Ancient Chinese Art from 1990 until she advanced to Curator, 1996-2001. Joseph Chang was associate curator for Chinese art, c. 1997-2010. Stephen D. Allee is the associate curator for Chinese painting and calligraphy and joined the museum in 1988. J. Keith Wilson is the curator of ancient Chinese art and started at the museum in 2006. Incumbents of Curatorial - Chinese Art report to the Chief Curator.
Curatorial - Chinese Art conducts research; publishes; lectures; studies and translates texts, seals, and artifacts; and provides expert opinions on provenance, age, quality, and other significance of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery artifacts of Chinese art. Research and lectures take place both in these galleries and in other research sites in this country and abroad. Some of the study of Far Eastern ceramics was done separately by Curatorial - Ceramics and its predecessors.
For a history of the larger creating unit, refer to "Forms part of " above.
Repository Loc.:
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520
Topic:
Art museum curators  Search this
Art, Chinese  Search this
Local number:
SIA AH00324
Data Source:
Smithsonian Institution Archives
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:siris_arc_228200