It focuses on James McNeill Whistler, one of the most important American artists of the 19th century. Stressing creative vision over realism, his often loosely defined, moody evocations helped set the stage for tonalism and, in a more indirect way, impressionism.
Whistler went so far as to announce, “As music is the poetry of sound, so is painting the poetry of sight, and the subject matter has nothing to do with harmony of sound or of color.” A daring idea for the 1870s.
From nearly any point of view, this show could hardly be called a blockbuster. Whistler is not exactly a marquee name, and though the presentation contains more than 125 objects, it is compact enough to fit into three small galleries.
But not all exhibitions have to be blockbusters. In addition to concerning themselves with turnstile numbers, museums are obligated to mount shows that offer historically significant art and fill gaps in what can be seen at that institution or others in the region.
This look at Whistler ably fulfills both missions. Neither the Fine Arts Center nor the Denver Art Museum has strong holdings in 19th-century American art, and special exhibitions in that realm have been few and far between in Colorado.
To be clear, this show is not being displayed at the fine arts center proper at 30 W. Dale St. Its 1936 building, the masterpiece of Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem, is undergoing a $28.4 million renovation and expansion, with an expected completion in 2007.
To continue scheduling exhibitions during construction, the museum has opened an 8,000-square-foot satellite gallery on the first floor of an office building in downtown Colorado Springs complete with a museum shop and bar/cafe.
Even after the Fine Arts Center reopens its main exhibition galleries, this secondary location, called the FAC Modern, will continue to operate, following a national trend of such downtown spaces in cities as diverse as Des Moines, Iowa; and San Diego.
This Whistler exhibition was organized by the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the artist’s death in 1903. It opened in October 2004 at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tenn., and will travel to seven institutions.
The Hunterian houses the artist’s estate, which together with other acquisitions of the artist’s works puts its holdings on par with those at the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C.
The University of Glasgow, where the Hunterian is based, also owns 10,000 of Whistler’s letters. A few examples are on view in this exhibition, including one from Claude Monet inquiring about the two artists showing jointly in London.
Although a major American artist by any definition, Whistler (1834-1903) exerted much of his influence from afar. The Lowell, Mass., native moved to Paris in 1855, then settled in London four years later, establishing deep ties to the European art scene.
He was known first and foremost as a painter, but the 12 examples in this exhibition offer only a hint of his accomplishments in that realm. Indeed, the absence of any of his truly major paintings hurts this show.
Conveying a sense of Whistler’s style are “Nocturne” (ca. 1875-1877), a view of the Thames River that is so wonderfully murky that that the subject matter is almost indistinguishable, and “Red and Black: The Fan” (ca. 1891-1894) an example of the artist’s many full-length portraits.
There are only a handful of drawings, but there are a few prize ones, including “Off the Dutch Coast” (ca. 1883-1884), a watercolor that employs spectacularly subtle means to convey the water’s spray and haze slightly shrouding the distant shore.
The heart of this exhibition is nearly 60 of his prints. This is fitting: Whistler was one of the supreme printmakers of all time, producing more than 600 etchings, drypoints and lithographs.
Key examples from each of his four main print series are on view, including such extraordinary pieces as “Nocturne: Palaces” (1879-1880) from the Second Venice Set, in which he uses veils of ink to create dramatic plays of light and mood.
Whistler, a consummate draftsman, often used small etching plates he carried with him to record ideas and capture images the same the way many artists use sketch pads. A lovely example is “Fragment of Piccadilly” (ca. 1884-1886), a partial rendering of a row of buildings.
Rounding out the exhibition are a few drawings related to Whistler’s important contributions to design, including his celebrated Peacock Room, as well as a selection of objects that influenced his aesthetic. But they are so few in number and disjointed in their presentation that they serve little purpose.
Such reservations aside, this show offers a small but revealing look at a fascinating figure in American art history.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
|
“James McNeill Whistler: Selected Works From the Hunterian Art Gallery”
THROUGH AUG. 20|Exhibition of paintings, drawings, prints and related objects|Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center’s FAC Modern, 121 S. Tejon St., Colorado Springs|$5|$4 seniors and students and $3 children 3-12|9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays (719-634-5583 or csfineartscenter.org)
