Past Exhibition

James McNeill Whistler

The image shows an aerial view of a sandy terrain with a horizon line separating the sky from a strip of water where there is a dark shape resembling a ship. The brushstrokes are soft, creating a blurred effect. The color palette is mainly sandy beiges and taupes with darker spots indicating people and structures dispersed across the area. Human figures are mostly silhouettes. In the distance, there is a suggestion of a building and clusters of people. The tones of the building blend with the surroundings, directing focus towards the distant clusters of activity.
James McNeill Whistler, Beach Scene, probably 1885, watercolor and traces of gouache on off-white paper mounted on paperboard, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.7.3

Details

  • Dates

    -

  • Locations

    West Building Main Floor
The image shows an aerial view of a sandy terrain with a horizon line separating the sky from a strip of water where there is a dark shape resembling a ship. The brushstrokes are soft, creating a blurred effect. The color palette is mainly sandy beiges and taupes with darker spots indicating people and structures dispersed across the area. Human figures are mostly silhouettes. In the distance, there is a suggestion of a building and clusters of people. The tones of the building blend with the surroundings, directing focus towards the distant clusters of activity.
James McNeill Whistler, Beach Scene, probably 1885, watercolor and traces of gouache on off-white paper mounted on paperboard, Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, 1991.7.3

Overview: 64 paintings, 83 drawings, 48 prints, and 4 books from the National Gallery's collection and other public and private collections were gathered in a survey of Whistler's career. The exhibition, which included Arrangement in Gray and Black: Portrait of the Artist's Mother, was the most important retrospective of the artist's work since the memorial exhibitions in 1904-1905.

A 17-minute video program, James McNeill Whistler: The Lyrics of Art, was shown continuously adjacent to the exhibition. It was supported by the International Corporate Circle of the National Gallery of Art. A symposium on Whistler's life and art was held June 2-3. This exhibition was on view concurrently with Prints by James McNeill Whistler and His Contemporaries at the National Gallery. 2 other exhibitions on Whistler were on display in Washington over the summer, one at the National Portrait Gallery and the other at the Freer Gallery of Art.

Organization: The exhibition was organized as a collaboration of the Tate Gallery, London; the Réunion des musées nationaux and the Musée d'Orsay, Paris; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. The curators were Richard Dorment, writer and critic; Margaret F. MacDonald, research fellow at the Centre for Whistler Studies at the University of Glasgow; Geneviève Lacambre, conservateur général du patrimoine at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris; and Nicolai Cikovsky Jr., curator of American and British paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

Sponsor: The exhibition was made possible by a grant from NYNEX Foundation. It was also supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

Attendance: 182,886

Catalog: James McNeill Whistler, by Richard Dorment and Margaret MacDonald, with Nicolai Cikovsky Jr., Ruth E. Fine, and Geneviève Lacambre. London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1994.

Brochure: James McNeill Whistler, by Charles Brock. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1995.

Other Venues:

  • Tate Gallery, London, 10/24/1994–01/08/1995
  • Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 02/06/1995–04/30/1995

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