Wild parties with James McNeill Whistler in Paris, banquets with maharajas, and what he considered ?going native? in a remote Japanese village - Detroit industrialist and museum founder Charles Lang Freer made his first extended tour overseas between September 1894 and August 1895. Although Freer did not keep a travel journal, his extensive letters to his friend and business partner Frank Hecker provide a vivid day by day description of his travels through Italy, France, Sri Lanka, India and Japan.
Wild parties with James McNeill Whistler in Paris, banquets with maharajas, and what he considered ?going native? in a remote Japanese village - Detroit industrialist and museum founder Charles Lang Freer made his first extended tour overseas between September 1894 and August 1895. Although Freer did not keep a travel journal, his extensive letters to his friend and business partner Frank Hecker provide a vivid day by day description of his travels through Europe and Asia.
This was Freer's first travel in Asia, and while he was not purchasing works of fine art in large numbers, the cultural encounters he made during this trip deepened his interest in Asia's artistic heritage. Freer's stops included Sri Lanka, India, Singapore, China and Japan. Freer also stayed in Italy and France, spending time with James McNeill Whistler in Paris.