Sneak Peek | A Colorful Meeting of the Minds: Coburn, Freer, and the Autochrome
In 1909, the New York art critic Charles Caffin approached Charles Lang Freer with a proposal to have the celebrated photographer Alvin Langdon Coburn come to Detroit to make color slides for a planned lecture on Whistler. What began as an experiment in the use of the new autochrome process expanded into a twelve-day marathon during which Coburn and Freer—working together despite vast differences in age and background—recorded over forty-seven Whistlers and fifty-two Asian and Middle Eastern objects. Join Professor Emerita Anne McCauley for a talk centered on the surviving autochromes and why their creation inspired such outpourings of mutual excitement and friendship.
This program is part of the monthly lunchtime series Sneak Peek, where staff members and outside scholars share personal perspectives and new research related to the collections of the National Museum of Asian Art.
Anne McCauley, David H. McAlpin Professor Emerita at Princeton University, has published extensively on 19th- and early…
Event Location: Zoom. Cost: Free. Register in advance (required). Get Tickets/Register: https://smithsonian.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_m-m_o-imRketlm7L3VPDcw. Categories: Webcasts & Online. Lectures & Discussions. Accessibility: Captioning.
Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM.
Curator Tour | Chinese Arts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Join curator Jan Stuart for an exclusive tour of Chinese calligraphy, porcelains, and paintings, including scrolls illuminating the steps of silk cultivation and tilling rice.
Please meet at gallery 13 for the tour. We recommend you register in advance. Image: Attributed to Cheng Qi (傳)程棨 (act. mid- to late 13th century); Silk Weaving after Lou Shou 摹樓璹〈蠶織圖; China, mid- to late 13th century; ink and color on paper; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Purchase—Charles Lang Freer Endowment, F1954.20.
Venue: Asian Art Museum, West Building. Building: West Building. Event Location: Gallery 13. Cost: Free. Register in advance (recommended). Get Tickets/Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1988568831907?aff=oddtdtcreator. Categories: Gallery Talks & Tours. Lectures & Discussions. Related Exhibition: Looking Out, Looking In: Art in Late Imperial China. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.
Wednesday, August 5, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.