A l’occasion de l’exposition ‘Whistler - l’effet papillon’ (24.05.24 - 22.09.24) que le musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen consacre au peintre américain James Whistler dans le cadre du festival Normandie Impressionniste, le conservateur de la Tate Britain James Finch, spécialiste du 19e siècle, nous éclaire sur l’œuvre et la vie de ce peintre.

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https://mbarouen.fr/fr/service-educatif
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Key words

 : Whistler, art, art academies, patron, establishment, Tate, Tate Britain, John Ruskin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Singer Sargent, Chelsea, London, landscape, cityscape, riverscape, music, symphony, nocturne, Thames, factories, industry, printmaking, Jubilee, state funerals, pioneer, Queen Victoria, exhibition design.

Key quotes :

“During the time of Whistler’s emergence, due to the relative lack of art academies in the United States, ambitious painters would look to Paris to receive their training.”

“He was one of the most successful American artists of his generation and received very much an international reputation. He had patrons in the United States as well as in Europe.”

“He fell out with many artists and so across his career, this accumulation of arguments and disputes meant that Whistler was disliked as much as he was loved.”

“Whistler’s work is always recording and documenting the changing cityscape and the way in which the Thames, for instance, is changing. He is very interested in the way that throughout his career, several of the bridges on the Thames were replaced, and he is painting the removal of one bridge and its replacement, the construction with a new bridge in its place.”

“I think Whistler’s legacy is very much one of an artist who is single-minded in his vision and will not compromise in any way to achieve what he believes is the realization of his vision, whatever its personal cost to him in terms of reputation or finance.”

James Finch Interview

[1] Who was Whistler ?

James McNeill Whistler was an artist who was born in the United States in 1834. He actually had quite an interesting childhood, because his father was an engineer, and he actually spent much of his childhood in Russia, in St. Petersburg, where he received his first artistic training.
He also spent time in Britain growing up, including some of his schooling, because he also had family in Britain. And before becoming an artist, Whistler actually enrolled in the military academy at West Point in the United States. And so it was only after all of these experiences that he became an artist, receiving his training in Paris and eventually making his home in London.

[2] Was it usual for American artists to come to Europe at the time ?

Whistler was, by no means, the first American artist to receive training and to make his career in Europe and in Britain, we think of someone like Benjamin West, who was the president of the Royal Academy of Arts. But certainly, it was far less common during Whistler’s time to follow this path, and it became later on in the century. An artist such as John Singer Sargent, who was a generation later than Whistler, and all of those many American artists who received training in Paris in the 1870s and 1880s, that’s really the high point of American artists receiving their training in Europe. But certainly, during the time of Whistler’s emergence, due to the relative lack of art academies in the United States, ambitious painters would look to Paris to receive their training.

[3] Was Whistler successful during his lifetime ?

Whistler certainly was successful during his lifetime. And in the latter part of his career, he received all of the highest decorations and honors that could be hoped for of an artist. In France, for example, he received the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, and he received similar honors in various other countries. He had many patrons, and his work was collected by national collections.
But it was by no means a smooth path for Whistler to receive this recognition, partly because of his personality, which led him to become involved in many high profile disputes with patrons and critics, which meant that throughout his life, Whistler also accumulated many enemies, which made it more difficult for him to receive recognition within the establishment.
But yes, certainly, he was one of the most successful American artists of his generation and received very much an international reputation. He had patrons in the United States as well as in Europe.

[4] Whistler had enemies, why is that ?

I think Whistler was argumentative and combative by nature. If he felt that he had been criticized, he would certainly not let it go. And an example of this is when the legendary critic John Ruskin described one of Whistler’s most celebrated paintings - The Falling Rocket - as essentially the artist “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face”, as Ruskin described it. And in response to this slight, Whistler took Ruskin to court. He sued him for libel. And although the judge found in Whistler’s favor, he only received a token fee. And Whistler’s large legal fees were a contributing factor in him having to declare bankruptcy around this time.
He also got involved with several disputes, with patrons such as Frederick Leyland, one of his most important patrons, around the fees that he believed he was due for work that he had carried out. And so all of these disputes, which Whistler often followed up with in print, he wrote many polemical documents, many satirical pamphlets, aimed at patrons and critics and artists as well. He fell out with many artists and so across his career, this accumulation of arguments and disputes meant that Whistler was disliked as much as he was loved.

[5] What was his relationship with the US, the UK, and France ?

So to start with the United States, Whistler was born in the United States. He also trained in the military academy there. But he did not return to the United States at all in later life. He in fact turned down the opportunity to go on a lecturing tour of the United States. So unlike many other emigré artists, he kept his distance from the United States in later life. I think he very much felt at home in Europe.
He had family in Britain. And some of his schooling was received in Britain, and that was his home for much of his artistic career. He lived in London, in the district called Chelsea, where he lived surrounded by other artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Singer Sargent. And many of the landscapes and the paintings for which he is most famous were made in London, particularly his views on the Thames, which I think is a landscape which he really made his own, and which he found as an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
France was also very important to Whistler. He received four years of artistic training living in Paris in the Quartier latin. And although he subsequently moved to London, he continued to have holidays and trips to various parts of France throughout his life, particularly on the Brittany coast. And he also moved back to France later on in his life, in the 1890s. And he moved back to Paris.
And Whistler had many important links with the literary and artistic worlds in Paris throughout his life, from his early influence of artists such as Fantin-Latour and Courbet, to his literary friendships, most notably with Stéphane Mallarmé and Joris Huysmans. So I think culturally he was perhaps more French than anything else.

[6] Did Whistler have a signature style ?

Whistler had a very distinctive way of applying paint. He thinned out his paints and would often pour paint onto the canvas so that it would behave in this very liquid and fluid way. [indistinct : He used… instead of…Whistler…] He often worked in oil paintings as if he was a watercolor artist. He was very interested in the shapes that paint could take on the canvas and opening it up to chance processes.
Whistler, certainly in Britain, was identified very much with Impressionism, and some of the techniques of atmosphere and indistinctness that were associated with that movement, even though, I think, there was no formal connection between Whistler and Impressionism.
But I think if we are going to talk about a signature style for Whistler, I would say that it is above all about emptying out the content of the picture, so that as his career progresses, he is continually asking, what is the minimum of pictorial event that can be taking place ?
We see this in his printmaking, which is an important part of his work, where in many of his etchings, there is only perhaps a small area of the etching plates has actually…has anything taking place on it. He makes these Venice landscapes, where you just have a thin horizon line, where there are some buildings discernible, but in the foreground and the background, there is nothing else going on. So Whistler is not trying to crowd his pictures with events, but he’s trying to create an atmosphere.
And he also makes us question the idea of finish in a painting as well. And there are lots of interesting discussions about some of Whistler’s paintings and whether they are left unfinished or whether they are finished. But they just look unfinished, because that’s the way that Whistler worked.

[7] About Symphony in White, No 2-The Little White Girl from the Tate collections

Symphony in White, No 2-The Little White Girl is a depiction of Joanna Hiffernan, who was Whistler’s model at this time. He was also involved in a relationship with her. And the painting is set in the home that they shared together in Lindsey Row in Chelsea.
And besides the representation of Joanna Hiffernan, who is looking in a mirror, and you have an interesting play of reflections taking place, so you see both sides of her face from different angles, the picture includes various pieces of porcelain and flowers and a fan, which Jo holds, all of which reference Whistler’s strong interest in Japanese and Chinese art, which was very prominent in his work at this time.
The fan that Jo holds is a fan which would have been produced in Japan for European consumption. And the blue and white porcelain, which is also found in several other Whistler paintings, is Chinese porcelain.
This is also notable as one of Whistler’s first works to be given a title which refers to a musical form - the symphony in this case. And Whistler is also well-known for the series of nocturnes, which he subsequently produced. Whistler was very interested in taking these musical forms to title his paintings, because that idea of titling the work in this way epitomized Whistler’s idea that the work was not fundamentally about anything but like music, which is not communicating a specific meaning, he believed that his own paintings were as much concerned with form and atmosphere as with any discernible message that the artist intended to convey.

[8] Whistler was paying attention to the world around him, is it present in his work ?

Whistler’s work is always recording and documenting the changing cityscape and the way in which the Thames, for instance, is changing. He is very interested in the way that throughout his career, several of the bridges on the Thames were replaced, and he is painting the removal of one bridge and its replacement, the construction with a new bridge in its place.
He is often documenting architecture, which is historic, which in some cases is about to be demolished. And he is recording what takes its place.
And of course, in the Thames nocturnes, although they are often disguised by the time of day and the indistinctness of Whistler’s form of painting, we see in all of those paintings, the riverside industry, the factories, all of the work which is taking place on the Thames, which is, of course, an incredibly important river in terms of industry.
And Whistler is also interested in historic events and state events. In the later part of his career, some of the occasions that he documents are the Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria, state funerals, and for instance, he makes prints in Paris, following the funeral of President Carnot. And in Belgium he makes paintings which depict the return of King Leopold to Ostend following a trip to Britain.
So although Whistler is best known for some of his purely landscape paintings, you can see this thread of interest in current affairs and political events taking place in his work as well.

[9] What is Whistler’s legacy ?

I think Whistler’s legacy is very much one of an artist who is single-minded in his vision and will not compromise in any way to achieve what he believes is the realization of his vision, whatever its personal cost to him in terms of reputation or finance.
And he was a pioneer, both in terms of the way that he painted and the subject matter of his paintings. And also, I think, of particular relevance to contemporary art, perhaps, is Whistler’s innovations in exhibition design and his involvement in all aspects of the process.
He was radical in the 19th century for the way in which he would choose unusual wall colors for his exhibitions, the way he would hang his pictures, the way he would, for instance, even stipulate the uniform that the gallery invigilator had to wear. And you would provide dress codes to attend his exhibitions.
So, he would even title exhibitions with color, with names such as arrangements in gray and yellow. So he saw the exhibition as a total environment, in which he was not merely exhibiting a picture, but he was involved in every single aspect of the process. And that certainly anticipates site specific developments in installation and conceptual art that we see practised to this day.

Going further :

The Tate page about Whistler :
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/james-abbott-mcneill-whistler-598
The Met page about Whistler :
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/whis/hd_whis.htm
Symphony in White, No 2-The Little White Girl on the Tate website
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/whistler-symphony-in-white-no-2-the-little-white-girl-n03418
The Falling Rocket on Detroit Institute of Arts Museum website :
https://dia.org/collection/nocturne-black-and-gold-falling-rocket-64931

About James Finch :

https://britishartnetwork.org.uk/membership/members/james-finch/

About the festival and the exhibition :

https://www.normandie-impressionniste.fr/
https://mbarouen.fr/fr/expositions/whistler-l-effet-papillon

Links with the curriculum :

• Rencontre avec d’autres cultures (cycle 4)
• Voyages et migrations (cycle 4)
• Les univers professionnels, le monde du travail (2nde)
• La création et le rapport aux arts (2nde)
• Le village, le quartier, la ville (2nde)
• Le passé dans le présent (2nde)
• Identité et échanges (cycle terminal)
• Art et pouvoir (cycle terminal)
• Fictions et réalités (cycle terminal)
• Espace privé et espace public (cycle terminal)
• Territoire et mémoire (cycle terminal)

Spécialités :
• LLCER - Imaginaire
• LLCER - Arts et débats d’idées
• LLCER-AMC - Représentations
• LLCER-AMC - Environnements en mutation
• LLCER-AMC - Relation au monde