The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is dedicating an exhibition to the great American painter James Whistler. Even if this exhibition gathers only about twenty works, it is an event not to be missed. We have listed for you 5 good reasons to visit this exhibition.
The name James Whistler may not ring a bell, but this artist who lived in Paris not far from the Musée d'Orsay is a very talented American painter.
Born in 1834 in Massachusetts, Whistler apprenticed and began working as an artist in Paris between 1855 and 1859.
Even after moving to London, he maintained a close connection to the Parisian art scene, exhibiting alongside the Rejected in 1863.
At 110 rue du Bac, not far from the museum, a plaque commemorates the artist who lived at this address between 1892 and 1901.
James Whistler (1834-1903) participated, from the end of the 1850s, in the great artistic currents of his time, frequenting Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet, among others.
Unlike many of his American contemporaries, Whistler, who lived between London and Paris, did not lag behind in the modern movement.
This American painter with a singular output was associated for a time with realism and then with impressionism and finally with symbolism.
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The exhibition dedicated to James Whistler consists of 22 works, including 4 paintings and 3 pastels.
Of course, the Musée d'Orsay has accustomed us to retrospectives of a different scale. But this exhibition, modest as it is, is nevertheless worth the detour.
This exhibition creates the event because it presents Whistler from the famous Frick Collection in New York.
The Frick Collection, named after industrial magnate and major collector Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), is one of the most important museums of European art in the United States.
Due to the institution's closure for renovations, a group of Whistler's works left New York for the first time in over a century to be shown in Paris in this exhibition.
These works that have crossed the Atlantic are complemented by permanent collections from the Musée d'Orsay.
James Whistler's paintings are characterized by wonderful subtleties of tone.
During this period of his life, the artist gave his paintings musical names such as 'Symphony in Flesh Color and Pink'.
This painting, which traveled from New York, depicts Frances Leyland, the wife of a wealthy English shipowner who was one of the painter's patrons.
To harmonize the colors of this portrait, the painter went so far as to imagine the dress she is wearing.
The flowers that surround his model are one with those of her dress, whose fabric cascades down her back.
This painting is one of three great portraits presented in this exhibition, along with the portrait of Rosa Corder and that of the aesthete Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac.
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All are representative of the 'symphonies' and 'arrangements' of hues so prized by Whistler.
But the centerpiece of this exhibition does not come from New York! It is a painting from the permanent collection of the Musée d'Orsay.
This painting dated 1871 was named by the artist 'Arrangement in black and white number 1'.
It is a portrait of his mother, then a widow. She is represented in profile, wearing a large black dress.
But as is often the case in Whistler's paintings, this portrait is merely a pretext for the depiction of a subtle harmony of molten hues ranging from white to very dark gray.
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The exhibition James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Masterpieces from the Frick Collection, New York runs at the Musée d'Orsay until May 8, 2022.
Address
Musée d'Orsay
1, rue de la Légion d'Honneur
75007 PARIS
- Subway : Solférino
- RER C : Musée d'Orsay
Schedules
Open every day except Monday:
- from 9:30 am to 6 pm
- nocturne on Thursday until 21h45
Prices
- Full price: 16 €.
- Reduced rate: 13 €
- Free for under 18s, 18-25 year olds who are EU nationals or residents, job seekers, the disabled and for everyone on the first Sunday of the month.
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