In 1906, industrialist Charles L. Freer (1854–1919) donated his exceptional collection of Asian and American art to the Smithsonian Institution and the people of the United States. His personal friend, the acclaimed architect, landscape architect, and illustrator Charles A. Platt (1861–1933), designed an Italian Renaissance style museum and courtyard in 1918 to house Freer’s holdings of Asian art and the works of American expatriate artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903). Platt intended the courtyard garden to be a place for quiet introspection when the museum opened to the public in 1923.

The courtyard’s elegant design highlights both beauty and function. Since the museum was constructed in the days before central air conditioning and climate control, large glass doors located between the columns of the loggia, as well as windows behind the parapet, allowed air and light to enter the galleries. With advances in technology and growing concerns about preserving the objects on view, the courtyard was later closed off to prevent the fluctuations in humidity and temperature than can damage works of art. The plantings and fountain remain, however, and the courtyard continues to serve as a place of rest and reflection for today’s visitors.