Whistler Exhibition at Musée d'Orsay

Whistler: Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother 1871

Parisians are very lucky to have James McNeill Whistler's mother as a permanent resident. This was thanks to the efforts of French poet Mallarmé and friends, who thought it imperative that the French owned a great American work of art. Whistler himself, in his fifties in 1891, was hopeful of seeing his work in the Louvre at last and accepted a rather modest sum for what is generally considered as his masterpiece.

Taking a modern stance, the artist claimed that the subject matter of a painting was not important (although of course his mother was to him), but that it was the painting himself that mattered- what the artist did with the subject. 

The iconic painting is being shown at present opposite 3 powerful portraits normally on view in the Frick Collection, New York.

Whistler: Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland 1871-74

Mrs. Leyland, the subject of the portrait, is wearing an elegant muslin 'tea gown', designed by Whistler himself, and she adopts a pose which best shows off her attire. The effect is perfect, against the background of Whistler's sitting room in London. She was the wife of a rich patron of Whistler's, wealthy Liverpool shipowner Frederick Leyland, with whom the artist later had a disagreement.

Whistler: Arrangement in Brown and Black: Miss Rose Corder 1876-8

Victorian painter Rose Corder had a few fainting fits during the 40 posing sessions until perfectionist Whistler was satisfied with his work. The elegant simplicity of the black day dress similar to a riding habit appealed to him, contrasting with the brown hair and hat. Just a few touches of pink and white set off Rose's portrait.

The third large portrait lent by the Frick Collection is of Robert de Montesquiou, flamboyant homosexual dandy and aristocrat. He inspired Marcel Proust for his character Baron Charlus in 'A la Recherche du temps perdu'('In search of time lost')

Whistler: Arrangement in Black and Gold: Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac 1891-2

The Count ordered the portrait from Whistler and wanted it to be unique and timeless. The gold in the title is provided by the gold frame. Count Robert wears evening dress and carries the chinchilla coat belonging to his niece, Countess Greffuhle, a great patron of the arts and society hostess. His gaze meets that of the viewer, adding to his air of mystery.

Whistler: Symphony in Grey and Green: The Ocean 1866

Other works from the Frick Collection include the misty seascape above. The flat expanses and the sprig of bamboo in the foreground are reminiscent Japanese prints. The same impression is conveyed by a work acquired in 1995 by the Musée d'Orsay:

Whistler: Variations in Violet and Green 1871

The Orsay's third work by Whistler is ' Old Man with Pipe', bequeathed to the museum in 1909, when contemporary artists were still being shown in the Luxembourg Museum:

Head of an old man smoking    ca.1859

This realistic portrait was one of Whistler's first works when he came to Paris, aged 21, in 1855 and studied with academic painter Charles Gleyre. At this time he was inspired by Dutch and Flemish old masters in the Louvre, as well as by Courbet, French Realist painter.

He later adopted a style taking him away from Realism and towards Symbolism. The titles of his works were often those used for music- Nocturnes or Symphonies.

A commission from the Fine Art Society in London helped resettle his finances after a ruinous court case against art critic Ruskin who had ridiculed one of his 'Nocturnes'.  Whistler was commissioned to do some engravings of Venice. Several are on show here, lent by the Frick collection, along with some atmospheric pastels.

Whistler: The Cemetery, Venice 1879  Pastel and graphite

Whistler: Venice series  Etching 1880

Whistler reveals the poetry of Venice in his etchings and pastels, chosing untypical views. He sometimes sketched from a gondola.

The Frick Collection works will be soon winging their way back to New York, to their beautiful setting in the Frick mansion, built just before World War 1 by architect Thomas Hastings. Having had a little stay in Paris, where Whistler spent some of his early days, they will rejoin such old masters as Rembrandt and Fragonard. 

Henry Clay Frick (1849 - 1919) saw his contemporary Whistler as the last link in a tradition back to Gainsborough or Velazquez. He bought more Whistlers than any other artist (20 works in the last 5 years of his life). James McNeill Whistler had died 16 years before him in 1903. The last time the  Frick portraits were seen in Paris was at the Whistler retrospective held at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in 1905.

Whistlers from the Frick Collection- at Musée d'Orsay until 8th May 2022.

 Musée d'Orsay, 1 rue de la Légion d'Honneur, Paris 7e;     Open daily, except Mondays.

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