Docent Tour at the
National Museum of Asian Art
“Striking Objects: Contemporary Japanese Metalwork”
plus James Whistler’s Peacock Room
Thursday, June 26, 2025
1:30 p.m. (arrive at 1:00)
National Museum of Asian Art
(formerly the Freer and Sackler Galleries)
1050 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20004
The NBV tour will view both Japanese contemporary metal objects and James McNeill Whistler’s Peacock Room.
Japanese Metalwork
NBV’s tour will start with a showcase of metal objects collected by Shirley Z. Johnson, a distinguished lawyer, philanthropist and former board member of the Museum. Ms. Johnson’s gift to the Museum represents the largest collection of such metalworks in the U.S. Japanese masters have extended traditional techniques to produce contemporary pieces at the level of high art. The work of pounding, firing, and etching metal is both painstaking and physical taxing, as showcased in the following introductory video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc4uVLzy8_0
Peacock Room
The tour will conclude with a viewing of Whistler’s Peacock Room. The Room shows Whistler’s fascination with Asian art themes and his “art for art’s sake” approach. The redecoration of the dining room of a shipping magnate was intended to show off the magnate’s collection of blue and white porcelain, but Whistler expanded the project to remake the entire room in an Asian theme of gold and peacocks. The magnate was not pleased and did not pay for Whistler’s work, which led to the artist being blackballed by financial patrons and bankrupted.
The NBV tour will take place at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. Attendees are asked to meet at 1:00 p.m. in the entry hall of the Freer Gallery, whose entrance is on the Smithsonian Mall side, close to the Smithsonian Museum Metro Station.
To register: