 | Among the works by James McNeill Whistler on display at the Yale Center for British Art will be "Street Scene in Chelsea, possibly depicting the Tobacconist, J. W. Nicholas, located at No. 75, Cheyne Walk," ca. 1888. |
Two new exhibits will open at the Yale Center for British Art on May 19 -- one featuring works related to England's Naval Review in 1887 by James McNeill Whistler, the other highlighting a selection of the museum's gifts and purchases of the last few years.
During Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887, Whistler attended a Naval Review off Spithead and recorded the occasion in a series of 12 etchings. A proof set of these works is the focus of "Whistler: The Naval Review," which will be on view through Aug. 15.
The etchings, signed in pencil with Whistler's signature butterfly, were part of a celebrated collection of the artist's prints assembled by American collector Howard Mansfield. They are a gift to the Yale Center for British Art from Robert Whittemore.
In addition, "Nocturne in Blue and Silver," Whistler's atmospheric night view of the Thames, will be showcased in the exhibition, as will six of the artist's watercolors. These include a gray wash study of Rosa Corder -- one of Whistler's pupils and the subject of his "Arrangement in Black and Brown" in the Frick Collection -- and a group of painted views of shop fronts and street scenes from the 1880s and 1890s.
Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1834, Whistler studied during the 1840s at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia. He entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1851, studying art under Robert W. Weir. After his expulsion from there, he worked in the drawing division of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington, D.C., where he was trained in etching.
Whistler left for Europe in 1855 to study art, and while he remained an American citizen, he never returned to the country to live. He studied in Paris and eventually entered the circle of Gustave Courbet, leader of the Realists. Later, while living in London, his etchings of scenes on the Thames River helped to establish Whistler at the forefront of an etching revival. He also took up painting, creating portraits and, later, night scenes. He lived for a year in Venice, producing numerous etchings and pastels of the city's canals, streets and people.
Whistler served as president of the Society of British Artists in London and was later elected the first president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers.
Works by the artist, who died in London in 1903, are in major museums in Europe and the United States.
Special offerings in conjunction with the exhibition include a talk on Wednesday, May 18, by David Park Curry, curator of American arts at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, who will speak on the topic "Uneasy Pieces: Whistler, Impressionism and Aestheticism." His talk will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the center's lecture hall.
This month's tours of the exhibition will be offered on Saturday, May 21, at noon, and Thursday, May 26, at 11 a.m.
To accompany the presentation of the gift of Whistler's Naval Review series, the center is exhibiting a selection of other gifts and purchases over the past several years.
These range from Claude de Jongh's 1632 oil painting of Old London Bridge to works on paper created by Christopher Cook and Rebecca Salter in 2003. The exhibit also includes sculptures, such as Gaspar Vanderhagen's marble relief "Sacrifice to Hercules" (circa 1760), and paintings, among them Joseph Wright of Derby's "Lake Scene"; watercolors by John Robert Cozens and Francis Towne; prints by Claire Leighton and Lee Hankey; and two railway posters from Henry Hacker's gift of poster art.
A selection of rare books and manuscripts includes a 17th-century panorama in its original leather viewing box and an album of 80 albumen prints illustrating the Abyssinian Campaign of 1867, the earliest published photographic record of Ethiopia.
This exhibition will also be on view through Aug. 15.
The Yale Center for British Art, located at 1080 Chapel St., is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Admission is free. For further information, visit the center's website at www.yale.edu/ycba.
T H I S
Whistler works, recent acquisitions
showcased in exhibitions
The Naval Review
Recent gifts and acquisitions
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