Whistler's Bridge: Battersea Bridge in the Art of Whistler

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Brown and Silver: Old Battersea Bridge, 1859-1863, oil on canvas mounted on masonite, gift of Cornelius N. Bliss

Whistler’s Bridge: Battersea Bridge in the Art of Whistler will be co-organized by the Addison Gallery of American Art, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and the Freer and Sackler Galleries. The exhibition will focus on the subject of Old Battersea Bridge as James McNeill Whistler interpreted it in a renowned series of works. This pivotal group of prints, drawings, and paintings from the late 1850s to the late 1870s shows developments in Whistler’s approach to composition, subject matter, and technique, advancing the stylistic direction he pursued for the balance of his career.

The exhibition will situate Whistler as a creative artist in the art world of London, and in the wider context of European and Far Eastern art. The curators will investigate the artist as craftsman, technician, salesman, writer, dandy and showman, as well as a serious worker in the studio and on site. A fresh picture will emerge both of the artist and the creative processes involved in creating some of his most important and influential works.

Whistler’s Bridge: Battersea Bridge in the Art of Whistler is guest curated by Margaret MacDonald, Professor Emerita of Art History, and Dr. Patricia de Montfort, both from the University of Glasgow.

Venues:

Dulwich Picture Gallery - London, UK

October 16, 2013 – January 12, 2014

Addison Gallery of American Art - Phillips Academy, Andover, MA

February 1 – April 13, 2014

Freer and Sackler Galleries - Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

May 2 - August 17, 2014