Prof. Francesco Carelli

Portrait of the Painter’s Mother, 1871

 

Tate Britain stages Europe’s largest retrospective of James McNeill Whistler in 3 decades. Bringing together 150 exquisite works of art, it offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to see the full breadth of his painting, drawing, printmaking and design, from the iconic Portrait of the Artist’s Mother to a remarkable collection of nocturnes and previously unseen sketchbooks. It also reveals how Whistler created his ethereal visions of modern life and foretold the future of modern art. A defiantly experimental artist and cosmopolitan celebrity who disrupted Victorian society in the pursuit of truth, beauty and artistic progress.

Whistler was a truly global figure, forging a nomadic career that spanned four continents. After moving to Paris at the age of 21, Whistler embraced the vibrant, bohemian atmosphere of the city and, alongside young contemporaries like Edgar Degas, developed a lifelong interest in working-class subjects and spaces. His etchings of modern life are reassessed alongside his earliest oil paintings from nature, pictures of friends and self-portrait Whistler Smoking 1856-60, unseen since his death.
He spent his late twenties crossing between Paris and London, pioneering impressionist techniques and painting landscapes in the open air, including the French coast and the modern spectacle of the industrialised River Thames. The exhibition showcases his first and largest statements in landscape, Coast of Brittany 1861 and Wapping 1860-4, as well as domestic interiors for which he gained critical recognition. In a landmark loan to the UK, Whistler’s iconic Arrangement in Black and Grey: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother 1871 is presented as part of a triumphant familial ‘triptych’ between his self-portrait Arrangement in Grey: Portrait of the Painter 1872, and that of his brother, Portrait of Dr. William McNeill Whistler 1871-3. They are at once an audacious declaration of a minimal new style and a poignant exploration of family identity.

Whistler argued that ‘nature is very rarely right’ and believed that the true artist invents their own harmony of colour and line. The elegant Butterfly Cabinet is seen in the context of Whistler’s provocative interior design, notably Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room 1877, in the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington.
The exhibition also hosts the largest assembly of Whistler’s Nocturne landscapes for over 30 years, beginning with the first, painted in Chile (Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso 1865–74) and ending with the last, painted in Italy (Nocturne: Blue and Gold – St Mark’s, Venice 1880). In Britain, Whistler turned nighttime views of factories and pleasure gardens along the Thames, reflected by streetlights and fireworks, into timeless, atmospheric works of art.

Whistler continued to battle for his idea of beauty until the end of his life. His last two decades were spent roaming Britain, Europe and North Africa, exploring poetic, spontaneous techniques in every medium. He grew increasingly experimental and his style became more atmospheric and abstract, leading to some of his finest etchings and lithographs, including Dance House: Nocturne 1889. In London, he set out his new theories in satirical letters, booklets and the hugely influential performance Mr Whistler’s 10 O clock. He also staged ground-breaking solo and group exhibitions, their lighter colour schemes and minimal furnishings anticipating the modern ‘white cube’ aesthetic.