Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0 · source
Name	Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Location	Washington, D.C.
Established	1987
Type	Art museum
Parent	Smithsonian Institution

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is a museum of Asian art and archaeology on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. The Gallery opened in 1987 as part of a complex that includes the Freer Gallery of Art and forms the Freer and Sackler Galleries pair on the National Mall. The institution houses collections spanning China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia, Islamic world, and Near East art, and it supports exhibitions, conservation, and scholarship connected to leading museums and universities.

History

The Sackler Gallery was created through the philanthropy of the Sackler family and the estate of Arthur M. Sackler in coordination with the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Congress. The planning and construction involved collaboration with the National Capital Planning Commission, the United States Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Park Service. Its 1980s authorization followed precedents established by the expansion of the National Gallery of Art and the creation of cultural facilities adjacent to the Washington Monument. The Gallery's opening program engaged curators from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and the Tokyo National Museum.

Architecture and Facilities

The Sackler complex was designed in consultation with architects, engineers, and landscape architects who had previously worked on projects for the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Portrait Gallery. The building integrates underground galleries and a visible entry plaza adjacent to the Smithsonian Institution Building and the National Mall. Facilities include climate-controlled galleries, a research library, conservation laboratories, and a lecture hall used by visiting scholars from institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, University of Oxford, and the University of Tokyo. The design accommodates loans from the Museo del Prado, the Louvre, the Hermitage Museum, and the State Historical Museum (Russia).

Collections

The Sackler's collections encompass ceramics, bronzes, jade, paintings, sculptures, textiles, and epigraphic materials from China, Japan, Korea, India, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire. Highlights include early Chinese bronzes comparable to holdings at the Palace Museum (Beijing), Tang dynasty sculpture in dialogue with examples at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Song dynasty ceramics referenced against collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Buddhist art related to objects at the Indian Museum, Kolkata. The archive contains manuscripts and printed books that resonate with holdings at the Bodleian Library, the Library of Congress, and the National Library of China.

Exhibitions and Programs

The Gallery has mounted loan exhibitions and collaborative programs with the British Library, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi planning committee, and the Asia Society. Past special exhibitions juxtaposed Sackler objects with masterpieces on loan from the Hermitage Museum, the Museo Nacional del Prado, the National Palace Museum (Taiwan), and the Shanghai Museum. Public programs include lecture series featuring scholars from Columbia University, artists associated with the Japan Foundation, performances linked to the Kennedy Center, and symposiums co-sponsored with the Asian Cultural Council and the Johns Hopkins University.

Research and Conservation

The institution operates conservation laboratories and research projects in partnership with the Getty Conservation Institute, the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Ongoing research areas include provenance studies comparable to work by teams at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and technical analyses like those undertaken at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Freer Gallery of Art. The Gallery's curators collaborate with researchers from the Princeton University Art Museum, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, and the Field Museum on epigraphy, archaeometry, and iconographic studies.

Governance and Funding

The Gallery is governed within the framework of the Smithsonian Institution administration and works with advisory councils, trustees, and donors drawn from the ranks of patrons associated with The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and private benefactors. Funding for exhibitions and acquisitions has come via endowments, gift agreements, and capital appropriations coordinated with the United States Congress and cultural grantors such as the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. Collaborative funding models mirror partnerships used by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum.

Category:Museums in Washington, D.C. Category:Smithsonian Institution