- May 28-August 20, 1995
James McNeill Whistler
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.
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. 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 [as of 7/9/95] (43 days)
Location: West Building, Main Floor, Galleries 72 through 79
Catalogue: 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
- October 24, 1994-January 8, 1995
- Musée d'Orsay, Paris
- February 6-April 30, 1995
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