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Portraits, Pastels and Prints: Whistler in the Frick Collection

Symphony in Grey and Green: The Ocean (1866).

James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Symphony in Grey and Green: The Ocean (1866).

Nocturne in Black and Gold

James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Nocturne in Black and Gold

Portraits, Pastels and Prints: Whistler in the Frick

The Frick Collection’s ensemble of four full-length portraits by Whistler will be displayed in the museum’s Oval Room alongside his evocative seascape, Symphony in Grey and Green: The Ocean (1866)

June 2, 2009, through August 23, 2009

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Having left the United States as a young man in order to pursue his artistic ambitions in Europe, Whistlerspent most of his life in London, where his reputation for dandyism rivaled that of Oscar Wilde. As one ofthe chief proponents of Aestheticism, he sought the harmonious synthesis of art’s formal and representationalqualities. He was influenced by Baudelaire’s notion of the correspondence between music and painting andoften likened his works to musical compositions, entitling them Symphony, Harmony, or Nocturne. With hisavant-garde approach to painting, Whistler deliberately provoked more traditional members of London’s artworld. In 1877, the critic John Ruskin ridiculed the artist’s nearly abstract Nocturne in Black and Gold,accusing him of “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.”

Whistler worked as a portraitist throughout his career,securing commissions from members of the aristocraticand bohemian circles of London and Paris. His portraitof the actress Lady Meux (front page), whose scandalousmarriage to a wealthy baronet made her notorious,captures all her sensual flair. Titled Harmony in Pinkand Grey: Portrait of Lady Meux (1881–82), the paintingis as much an exploration of color and texture as it is aperceptive likeness. Whistler’s mature portraiture is wellrepresented at the Frick by four canvases from the lastthree decades of his life. He was also a masterprintmaker and traveled to Venice to complete acommission from the Fine Arts Society for twelveetchings, which came to be known as the First VeniceSet. Whistler took a unique approach to the subject ofVenice. Choosing to represent the city and its inhabitants in quiet moments glimpsed from narrow canalsand second-story windows, he departed from the tradition of “vedute,” views of popular tourist spots such asSan Marco and the Grand Canal. Frick purchased the full set of twelve, and they will be presented in theCabinet, along with three plein-air pastels, which provide a colorful counterpoint to the etchings.

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Portraits, Pastels and Prints: Whistler in the Frick Collection