James McNeill Whistler Retrospective

HOME　＞　Exhibitions ＞　 James McNeill Whistler Retrospective

Arrangement in Grey and Black,
　　　No. 2：Portrait of Thomas Carlyle,
　　　1872-73, Glasgow Museums and
　　　Art Galleries
　　　©CSG CIC Glasgow Museums
　　　Collection

　　Born in the city of Lowell, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was a representative painter and print artist in the latter part of the 19th century who based his activities in London while maintaining close ties with impressionist artists in Paris. Internationally acclaimed as a pioneering artist of Japonism, Whistler established his unique style, greatly inspired by Japanese art and crafts, which had produced a great sensation at world expositions in the western countries.
　　Whistler criticized the mainstream idea of art in those days, which regarded art as a mere medium of conveying history or teachings, and attempted to pursue the expressive power of paintings, specifically the pure, visual effects that can be found in such paintings. As a leader of Aestheticism, he emphasized the intrinsic value of art, expressing it as "art for art's sake." He produced works which valued harmony between color tones and composition, and eventually exerted a great influence on artists in the same period. Furthermore, he tried to define his own philosophy behind creating artworks, by utilizing music terminology such as "symphony" and "arrangement" in the titles of his paintings.

Nocturne： Blue and Gold
　　　– Old Battersea Bridge, 1872-75,
　　　The Tate Gallery
　　　©Tate, London 2014

　　This exhibition introduces in chronological order the development process of Whistler's artwork, ranging from his initial artistic career as a realist triggered by his encounter with the work of Gustave Courbet in Paris, to establishing his unique style of art as an aesthete painter, through the 2 main motifs he used in his paintings – portraits in the 1st section and landscape paintings in the 2nd section. In the 3rd section, we introduce Japonism, which was the most important element in the development of his artistic style, how it influenced his work and the masterpieces he achieved.
　　As the first large-scale retrospective exhibition held in Japan in 27 years, this exhibition features the whole gamut of Whistler's works, including 130 oil and watercolor paintings, and prints gathered from the United States, Britain and France. It also includes reference materials and related works such as ukiyo-e prints that greatly influenced Whistler, whose charm thoroughly captivated Western art circles in the latter half of the 19th century.

List of Works

James McNeill Whistler Retrospective

*The picture, No. 53 《Battersea Reach》 (ca. 1863), is unavailable due to the circumstances

　of the possessor. We wish your kind understanding.

The temperature of the exhibition venue is set to around 20°C (68°F)

for the protection of works of art. Please bring thin coat to keep yourself comfortable.

Exhibition dates

September 13 (Sat.) - November 16 (Sun.), 2014

Closed on Mondays

Exception: Open on September 22 (Mon.), October 14 (Tue.) and November 4 (Tue.)

Hours

Regular hours

9:30AM-5:00PM (admission until 4:30PM)

Evening hours *September 20 (Sat.), 21 (Sun.)

9:30AM-8:00PM (admission until 7:30PM)

Organizer

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto

NHK Kyoto Station

NHK PlanNet, Inc., Kinki Branch Office

The Kyoto Shimbun

Sponsors

Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Ltd.

TERRA FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN ART

Nissha Printing Co., Ltd.

Cooperation

Japan Airlines

Admission

	Day of admission	Advance	Group (20 or more)
Adult	1,500	1,300	1,300
University students	1,100	900	900
High school students	600	400	400
Junior high school students and younger	Free

*Collection gallery is available with this ticket.

* Visitors with disability and one person accompanying them are

　admitted free of charge.(Please present certificate at the admission.)

*Advance tickets:

　Lawson　　　　　(L-code:56121)

　Seven-Eleven　(7-code:029-678)

　Ticket Pia　　　　(P-code: 766-113)

　Other major ticket vendors and convenience stores

　*Advance tickets are available for a limited period only. (8/1-9/12)

　Related events
　　Lecture: "James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903): Artistic Cosmopolitan"

Patricia de Montfort (Lecturer in History of Art, School of Culture and
　　　Creative Arts, University of Glasgow)
　　　Date & Time: September 13 (Sat.), 2014 2:00-3:30PM
　　　Place: 1F Lecture hall
　　　Fee: Free Admission (maximum capacity 100 seats)
　　　in English with Japanese transration
　　　*Patricia de Montford is going to give us a lecture on behalf of Margaret F. MacDonald.

　　Symposium: The 4th Hatakeyama Open Symposium
　　　"Overview of Japonism - What Started on Whistler?" 　　　

Date & Time: October 4 (Sat.), 2014 10:00AM-5:00PM
　　　Place: 1F Lecture hall
　　　Organizer: The Society for the Study of Japonisme
　　　Co-organizer: HATAKEYAMA CULTURE FOUNDATION
　　　　　　　　　　　　　The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
　　　　　　　　　　　　　Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art
　　　Fee: Free Admission (maximum capacity 100 seats)
　　　in Japanese only
　　　Advanced Application Required through e-mail (info@ma7.momak.go.jp),
　　　indicating Name, Address and Phone No.
　　　*We have reached the quota of applications.

　　　Program

Greeting
10:00－10:15	Greeting MIYAZAKI Katsumi (Managing Director, The Society for the Study of Japonisme / Professor, Showa University of Music) and OSADA Noriyuki (Executive Director, Hatakeyama Culture Foundation)
Session 1: Keynote Address and Presentation
10:15－11:15	Keynote Address "New Aspects of Japonisme" MABUCHI Akiko (Director, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo)
11:15－12:00	Presentation 1 "Whistler's Japonisme and its Dissemination" ONO Ayako (Associate Professor, Shinshu University)
Session 2: Presentation
13:00－13:44	Presentation 2 "Whistler in the 1860s - Exoticism and 'Picture within a Picture'" MIURA Atsushi (Professor, The University of Tokyo)
13:45－14:30	Presentation 3 "Musical Terms in Whistler's Art" TSURUZONO Shikiko (Lecturer, Toho Gakuen School of Music)
14:30－15:15	Presentation 4 "Japan Approached by Whistler? - Bridge, Firework, Zen" HASHIMOTO Yorimitsu (Associate Professor, Osaka University)
Session 3: Discussion
15:30－17:00	Discussion Chair: MIYAZAKI Katsumi

Publicity materials

flyer PDF（2.2MB）

 


　　 This exhibition is made possible through support
from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

　　An exhibition in association with
　　The Hunterian, University of Glasgow


　This exhibition is covered by the Japanese Act on the Indemnification of Damage to Works of Art in Exhibitions.

Top of this page