The Freer Galler of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery are part of the Smithsonian - a collection of national museums and one of my favorite places to visit in Washington, D. C. The Freer and the Sackler house the Smithsonian's collections of Asian arts.

1. Chinese Art The extensive collection reaches back 7,000 years to pre-historic China. There are ritual metal objects, a fine collection of carved jade, buddhist sculpture, calligraphy and paintings. Click on "Browse the Chines Collection" to see 200 thumbnails of artworks. Click on an image that interests you to learn more about how the artwork was created and used.

2. Japanese Art The 200 highlights cover all major types of Japanese art - Buddhist sculptures and paintings, ceramics, narrative handscrolls, tea ceremony objects, woodblock prints, lacquerware, and modern Japanes art. Click on "Browse Japanese Art" to see the thumbnail images, then choose what interests you and learn more.

3. Korean Art This is one of the few museums to have a separate web gallery for Korean art. While heavily influenced by Chinese art, there are many unique forms and styles of Korean ceramics, jewelry and paintings. Fifteen elegant ceramcis are shown in the highlights here. Click on "Browse Korean Art" to see the thumbnails that link to larger images and descriptions.

4. South Asian Art The arts of India and the Himalayas are closely connected with the subcontinent’s many religious traditions - Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. The Sackler's collection illuminates these richly diverse sacred traditions as well as the secular arts of the Mughal and Rajput courts. Click on "Browse South Asian Art" to see the thumbnails that link to larger images and descriptions.

5. Southeast Asian Art Here are over 90 highlights of their collection of ceramics from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Burma. Click on "Browse Southeast Asian Art" to see the thumbnails that link to larger images and descriptions.