Freer Gallery’s Peacock Room, where sunlight is restrained, was painted without restraint

On Day 2 of this coquettish spring, ashen skies cleared just enough so that the Freer Gallery of Art’s monthly afternoon of sun-worshiping was not in vain. A staff member wearing gloves to protect oil paint from oily hands announced that noon had come and gone; they were four minutes late. It was time to arouse the dueling peacocks and the fair-faced princess of porcelain; time to allow this chameleonic room to dazzle its eager guests. Read full article >>