If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Inscribed LC: Jamaica Bay Signed LR: Ann Nooney Stamped LL: Federal Art Project NYC WPA Addt'l markings: signed LRC: 18 Original NY FAP label in file, dated in ink: 5/12/39 Stamped: MAY 17 1939
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
The Bethesda Fountain and Terrace is one of the chief attractions of Central Park. At first glance, this photograph appears to depict two African-American men seated along the edge of the fountain's pool. Only on looking again does the viewer notice the arms wrapped around the bare-chested man.
Influenced by Eugène Atget, Walker Evans, and Robert Frank, Meyerowitz sums up his relationship to photography, stating: "Fame and success are not the goals. The goal is to understand something of the medium's power, and something about how you are in the world, how it makes you see. Response, intelligence, clarity of intuition all are essential. Somebody goes out again and again, stands still for a moment, then brings us back a message that stands for a whole time. Look at what Atget did."
Carole McNamara, Assistant Director for Collections & Exhibitions
on the occasion of the exhibition New York Observed: The Mythology of the City
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Signed in ink l.r.: M. Carrillo Stamped in purple ink verso: Manuel Carrillo/ Bolivar 21/ Mexico 1, D.F., Mexico/ Telefono: 5-18-40-48 Inscribed in pencil verso, u.l. corner: 266 Watermark: Agfa
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Born July 10, 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of George Washington Whistler, a draftsman and civil engineer. In 1842 the senior Whistler was employed by the Russian government to help build a railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow. James Whistler thus spent seven years of his youth in Russia (1842-49). In 1851 he entered West Point Academy but was discharged in 1854, for deficiency in chemistry. He worked as a draftsman from 1854 to 1855 in the U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D.C., where he also learned to etch. In 1855 he left the United States for Paris and, after five years in France, settled in London. He never returned to the United States. He enjoyed great success in his life, as a painter and printmaker, but also struggled for acceptance and endured times of financial hardship.
Whistler studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia and at West Point Academy, but probably received his earliest artistic training from his father. In 1856 he entered the studio of Marc-Gabriel Charles Gleyre in Paris and became acquainted with Henri Martin, Henri Oulevey, George du Maurier, E. G. Poynter and L. M. Lamont. In 1858 Whistler met Fantin-Latour at the Louvre. Fantin-Latour took him to the Cafe Molière, where he met Legros, Carolus-Duran and Astruc and to the Brasserie Andler, the meeting place of Courbet and his followers. Fantin, Whistler, and Legros formed their own society, the Société des Trois in the same year. Later, in 1865, Albert Moore replaced Legros as the third member of the Société.
Whistler submitted the painting, At the Piano, to the Salon in 1859. Rejected by the Salon, the painting was exhibited in Francois Bonvin's studio. This was also the first painting by Whistler exhibited in Britain, at the Royal Academy, in 1860. Among Whistler's principal patrons early in his career include F. R. Leyland and W. C. Alexander and among major works he produced at this time are portraits of family members of these two men.
In England, Whistler became acquainted with the pre-Raphaelite circle of artists. He began collecting Japanese art and curios in the early 1860s and also is known to have visited the Salon des Refusés in Paris when many of the Impressionist painters were exhibiting there. Whistler's many connections with contemporary artists and wide interests make him an artist difficult to pigeonhole.
Two events in Whistler's life perhaps shed some light on his character: he sued John Ruskin for libel in 1877 (the fees incurred during the case forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1879) and in 1890 he published a book "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies."
Whistler married Beatrix Godwin, widow of E. W. Godwin, in 1888. She preceded him in death in 1896. Whistler died in London on July 17, 1903.
One-man exhibitions: 1874 London, Flemish Gallery; 1904 Memorial exhibition, Boston; 1905 Memorial exhibition, London and Paris
Memberships:
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, 1884; president, 1886-1888
First president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, 1898-1903
Officer of Legion of Honor, France
Member of Société Nationale des Artistes Françaises
Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
Chevalier of the Order of St. Michael of Bavaria
Honorary member of Royal Academies of Bavaria, Dresden, and of St. Luke in Rome
Sources: Groce, G. C. and D. H. Wallace, eds. "The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957; MacDonald, M. F. "James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995; McNamara, C. and J. Siewert, "Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision." London: Thames and Hudson, 1994; Opitz, Glenn B., ed. "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers," 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie: Apollo, 1986; Spencer, R. "Whistler: The Masterworks." London: Studio Editions, 1990.
Two men smoking long-stem pipes are seen sitting on a balcony. Behind them are visible the masts of ships along the bank, and further behind them in the distance a river sweeps towards the left. Buildings crowd the shore and boats are shown moored or in the river.
Subject Matter
Whistler spent several months in the commercial districts of London during 1859 and his etchings of the warehouses, docks, and people of Battersea and, in this instance Wapping, became the foundation of the Thames Set etchings, published in 1871. Densely clustered lines and careful observation characterize these views along the Thames. Charles Baudelaire celebrated the modernity of these views of London when a group of them were shown in Paris in 1862, describing them as “subtle and lively as improvisation and inspiration,” expressing with their “wonderful tangles of rigging, yardarms and rope; farragos of fog, furnaces and corkscrews of smoke; the profound and intricate poetry of a vast capital.”
Label Copy
Rotherhithe, from Sixteen Etchings, or the Thames Set
1860
Etching and drypoint on laid Japan tissue
Third state of three (Kennedy 66)
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.345
Rotherhithe, which depicts the balcony of The Angel tavern on the southern side of the Thames looking across to Wapping, is a compendium of different etching styles: the crisp detailed hatching of the rigging of adjacent vessels, the tavern’s balcony, and the view of distant buildings as the bank curves to the left are evidence of Whistler’s nearly topographical interest in the details of the life on the river; in contrast, the two bargemen are captured with fluid drypoint lines.
Whistler’s interest in onsite sketching is evident in this etching: the faint vertical line in the sky resulted from a brick falling nearby, startling the artist as he worked on the plate.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Born July 10, 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of George Washington Whistler, a draftsman and civil engineer. In 1842 the senior Whistler was employed by the Russian government to help build a railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow. James Whistler thus spent seven years of his youth in Russia (1842-49). In 1851 he entered West Point Academy but was discharged in 1854, for deficiency in chemistry. He worked as a draftsman from 1854 to 1855 in the U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D.C., where he also learned to etch. In 1855 he left the United States for Paris and, after five years in France, settled in London. He never returned to the United States. He enjoyed great success in his life, as a painter and printmaker, but also struggled for acceptance and endured times of financial hardship.
Whistler studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia and at West Point Academy, but probably received his earliest artistic training from his father. In 1856 he entered the studio of Marc-Gabriel Charles Gleyre in Paris and became acquainted with Henri Martin, Henri Oulevey, George du Maurier, E. G. Poynter and L. M. Lamont. In 1858 Whistler met Fantin-Latour at the Louvre. Fantin-Latour took him to the Cafe Molière, where he met Legros, Carolus-Duran and Astruc and to the Brasserie Andler, the meeting place of Courbet and his followers. Fantin, Whistler, and Legros formed their own society, the Société des Trois in the same year. Later, in 1865, Albert Moore replaced Legros as the third member of the Société.
Whistler submitted the painting, At the Piano, to the Salon in 1859. Rejected by the Salon, the painting was exhibited in Francois Bonvin's studio. This was also the first painting by Whistler exhibited in Britain, at the Royal Academy, in 1860. Among Whistler's principal patrons early in his career include F. R. Leyland and W. C. Alexander and among major works he produced at this time are portraits of family members of these two men.
In England, Whistler became acquainted with the pre-Raphaelite circle of artists. He began collecting Japanese art and curios in the early 1860s and also is known to have visited the Salon des Refusés in Paris when many of the Impressionist painters were exhibiting there. Whistler's many connections with contemporary artists and wide interests make him an artist difficult to pigeonhole.
Two events in Whistler's life perhaps shed some light on his character: he sued John Ruskin for libel in 1877 (the fees incurred during the case forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1879) and in 1890 he published a book "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies."
Whistler married Beatrix Godwin, widow of E. W. Godwin, in 1888. She preceded him in death in 1896. Whistler died in London on July 17, 1903.
One-man exhibitions: 1874 London, Flemish Gallery; 1904 Memorial exhibition, Boston; 1905 Memorial exhibition, London and Paris
Memberships:
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, 1884; president, 1886-1888
First president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, 1898-1903
Officer of Legion of Honor, France
Member of Société Nationale des Artistes Françaises
Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
Chevalier of the Order of St. Michael of Bavaria
Honorary member of Royal Academies of Bavaria, Dresden, and of St. Luke in Rome
Sources: Groce, G. C. and D. H. Wallace, eds. "The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957; MacDonald, M. F. "James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995; McNamara, C. and J. Siewert, "Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision." London: Thames and Hudson, 1994; Opitz, Glenn B., ed. "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers," 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie: Apollo, 1986; Spencer, R. "Whistler: The Masterworks." London: Studio Editions, 1990.
A man in a small boat with oars sits in front of a bridge, a pier of which is just behind and to the left of the boat. The viewer is also positioned on the water as only the bottom of the span is visible. Several other piers, also framed and clad with wood to protect against collision are visible on either side of the image. The distant view, seen between the piers, include a suspension bridge to the left of the central pier and the tower of a church or other buildings to the right.
Subject Matter
Whistler's interest in Asian art, particular Japanese woodblock prints, can be seen in this view of the old Battersea Bridge. The low vantage point, truncated span of the bridge, and the form of the boatman are all inspired by prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai.
Battersea Bridge was the last remaining wooden bridge in London when Whistler painted it and was itself slated for demolition and replacement. Like many of the warehouses and sites depicted in his Thames Set which were also scheduled for elimination as part of an urban renewal project, the old Battersea Bridge evoked a nostalgia for the passing of an era.
Label Copy
The Broad Bridge
1878
Lithotint with scraping on Japan paper
Only state (Way 8; Chicago 11)
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.417
Whistler framed this image of the river at low tide so that the pedestrian walkway is only barely indicated, making the piers the focus of the composition. The lone boater in the foreground, the skeletal structure of the bridge, and the wooden pier at the center of the composition show the influence of the unusual vantage points and asymmetrical compositions of Japanese prints, a sample of which can be seen in the adjacent case. Since the Battersea Bridge near Whistler’s home was slated for demolition and replacement, his views of this venerable structure were,
on one level, a memorial.
The Broad Bridge and The Tall Bridge were based on preparatory chalk drawings and intended for publication in the periodical Piccadilly. The published impressions of The Broad Bridge were printed on white plate paper, but the delicate washes of lithotint did not hold up in the large print run. This rare early impression with muted tonalities on Japan paper was, according to Way, one of the “very few fine proofs.”
Inscription
On the stone: Butterfly monogram Collector's stamp: on verso, T.R.W. (in rectangle) Thomas Robert Way. Lugt 2456.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
This large hanging scroll depicts a man on a donkey traveling along a mountain pass, accompanied by two other men and surrounded by huge overhanging craggy cliffs on both the left and right sides in the background with several overlapping vertical layers.
Subject Matter
In this large hanging scroll, a master on a donkey travels on a mountain pass, accompanied by two servants. The overhanging cliffs on both the left and right sides in the background have several overlapping vertical layers. This, along with Wu Wei’s vigorous and flourishing brushwork, substantially enlivens the landscape and provides an impressive sense of depth.
Label Copy
Spurious signature of Yang Andao
One seal (of the artist?), illegible
Four collectors’ seals
Wu Wei was a talented and accomplished court painter of the Ming dynasty. He was praised by emperors and the nobility and was the most popular professional painter of his time. In this large hanging scroll, a master on a donkey travels on a mountain pass, accompanied by two servants. The overhanging cliffs on both the left and right sides in the background have several overlapping vertical layers. This, along with Wu Wei’s vigorous and flourishing brushwork, substantially enlivens the landscape and provides an impressive sense of depth.
Wu Wei was a court painter of the Ming dynasty renowned for painting dramatically scaled landscapes, often rapidly, before an audience and not infrequently—while inebriated. Wu Wei was particularly revered for his free and confident brushwork executed in large landscapes such as the UMMA scroll: this aspect of his work can be seen in the brushstrokes making up the cliffs at the upper right hand side of this painting. These intertwined lines may appear disordered, chaotic or confusing if viewed up close as individual marks. Yet, viewed at a distance, the lines converge and create the illusion of texture indispensable for Wu Wei’s dramatic mountain landscape. These dramatic and freely painted areas contrast with the exacting detail and intimate charm of the figures of a master on a donkey and two servants on foot, traveling together in the snowy landscape. Due to the size of his monumental works—Travelers on a Mountain Pass originally measured over eighteen feet long—it is likely that the artist spread the silk on the floor, applying ink strokes while standing on the silk itself.
(Label for UMMA Chinese Gallery Opening Rotation, March 2009)
Inscription
Seals (6 seals total, 2 illegible, 4 legible): I(a). Seal just below artist's signatures is illegible. I(b). Collection seal immediately below seal I(a): Pao ch'uan, which is a pseudo seal, in the style of a Sung imperial seal. I(c). Collecter's seal at the lower left (of painting) below seal I(b): (Shang? Ch'iu?) Ch'en Ch'ung-pen shou-ts'ang-yin. (Ch'en Ch'ung-pen received a chin-shih degree in 1775.) I(d). Seal below seal I(c) is illegible. II(a). Collector's seal to the left of seals I(a)(b): Lou tung Pi Yüan chien-ts'ang, (Pi Yüan 1730-1797). III(a). Collector's seal at the lower right (of the painting): Ch'iu Fan shu-hua t'u-chang, (Pi Yüan 1730-1797).
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Inscription: … painted at Mr. Zhu’s Plum Hut Studio in the winter of 1639. Zhang Hong of Suzhou
Two seals of the artist
One collector’s seal
A solitary scholar, dwarfed by the surrounding autumnal landscape, seated inside a pavilion as he contemplates the ancient classic, The Book of Changes.
Subject Matter
An artist whose career spanned the last years of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by the Manchus in 1644, Zhang Hong, a native of Suzhou, worked in the literati tradition but earned his livelihood from painting. Studying the profound mystical text of The Book of Changes in the melancholy mood of fall would be especially resonant. Also, fall is a time for government exams, which this person seems unconcerned with.
Label Copy
Inscription: … painted at Mr. Zhu’s Plum Hut Studio in the winter of 1639. Zhang Hong of Suzhou
Two seals of the artist
One collector’s seal
An artist whose career spanned the last years of the Ming dynasty and the conquest of China by the Manchus in 1644, Zhang Hong, a native of Suzhou, worked in the literati tradition but earned his livelihood from painting. Here he depicts a solitary scholar, dwarfed by the surrounding autumnal landscape, seated inside a pavilion as he contemplates the ancient classic, The Book of Changes. Studying this profound mystical text on divination in the melancholy mood of fall would be especially resonant.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Landscape of flat terrain; water, perhaps a small stream, in the foreground; four leafless trees (two large, two small) right of center, and two leafless trees left of center, below a cloud-filled sky.
Subject Matter
Painted in overall tones of blues, greens and grays, this landscape represents the growing nostalgia for untamed, natural land, which many 19th century American artists, like Murphy, were feeling during a time when the Industrial Revolution brought about the clearing of enormous areas of land.
Label Copy
March 28 2009
Neglected or untouched landscapes were appealing subjects for many American artists in the decades following the Civil War; during this time the United States was quickly transforming from a rural to an urban society, and there was an increasing nostalgia for places untouched by man. Murphy, like other Tonalist painters, rejected the precisely executed and expansive panoramic vistas of the earlier Hudson River school artists. Instead he offered the viewer a close, intimate view of nature that invites contemplative reflection. Murphy was a keen observer of the wilderness, as the meticulously crafted Landscape with its flat terrain and spindly trees attests. The scuffed brushstrokes convey the rugged texture of the marshy landscape, while the muted tonalities of blue and grey evoke the fresh, crisp air. Murphy often returned to the same subjects, even repeating the same compositional formats. Unlike his fellow American landscape painters, such as Frederic Edwin Church and George Inness, he was not an avid traveler; most of his landscapes are based on views of the Catskill Mountains accessible from his home in Arktown, New York.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Landscape painting of costal scene overlooking a body of water using an aerial perspective; three tree tops in center in darkened foreground in front of a glowing sky
Subject Matter
Seeking solace after the Civil War, Kensett acquired property on Contentment Island on the Long Island Sound near Darien, Connecticut. This painting, probably painted from the artist's third-floor bedroom window or cupola, at the highest point of the island, captures the spirit of a nation in transition after the Civil War and reflects the desire to escape the congestion of growing cities to a place of placid retreat, and a longing to return to nature and the simpler, rural life of early America.
Label Copy
March 28 2009
The aftermath of the U.S. Civil War (1861–1865) left Americans shaken and riddled with a collective sense of uncertainty. Seeking a place of solace, Kensett acquired property just off the coast of Connecticut in an area aptly named Contentment Island. It was there that the artist painted some of his finest works, transitioning from a traditional Hudson River school style to a Luminist style, characterized by a strong interest in capturing the effects of atmospheric light in landscapes. Kensett favored horizontally formatted, panoramic compositions that featured huge skies and broad coastal views and provided lots of room to explore the play of both color and light on land and water. His earliest training was as an engraver, and it may be that his experience with the modulation of the gray scale requisite to that art gave him his almost unrivalled ability to render color values and saturation. With its distillation of forms, virtually imperceptible brush strokes, subtle tonal changes, and shimmering light effects, Sunset Near Darien creates a timeless mood of peace and tranquility.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Dark, wet ink wash and light accents of color capture the lyrical mood of an autumnal moonlit night at Lake Tai and Mount Dongting. A round moon hangs low in the sky at top right, with a diffuse glow slightly brightening the clouds and sky below. Two islands sit in the water below, the larger (closer) of the two has four boats moored just offshore. Up close the boats appear as freely brushed lines, and yet at a distance, their forms come into focus. A building sits on the closer island, light shining in the windows. The silhouette of a pagoda can be seen on the further island.
Subject Matter
A Shanghai artist of the early twentieth century. Having traveled to Japan, Wu appears to have been aware of both Japanese-and European-style painting, drawing upon these to expand his artistic vision. Subtle use of loose brushwork suggests Impressionism, marking the beginning of a new phase in the development of Chinese painting.
Label Copy
Inscription: Autumn Moon at Mount Dongting. Summer, 1903. Shixian
Seal of the artist
A Shanghai artist of the early twentieth century, Wu Qingyun uses dark, wet ink wash and light accents of color to capture the lyrical mood of an autumnal moonlit night at Lake Tai and Mount Dongting. Having traveled to Japan, Wu appears to have been aware of both Japanese art and European Impressionism, expanding his artistic vision. Up close the boats appear as freely brushed lines and yet at a distance, their forms come into focus. This subtle use of loose brushwork suggests impressionism, marking the beginning of a new phase in the development of Chinese painting.
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A Shanghai artist of the early twentieth century, Wu Qingyun uses dark, wet ink wash and light accents of color to capture the lyrical mood of an autumnal moonlit night at Lake Tai and Mount Dongting. Having traveled to Japan, Wu appears to have been aware of both Japanese-and European-style painting, drawing upon these to expand his artistic vision. Up close the boats appear as freely brushed lines, and yet at a distance, their forms come into focus. This subtle use of loose brushwork suggests Impressionism, marking the beginning of a new phase in the development of Chinese painting.
(Chinese Gallery Rotation, Fall 2010)
Gallery Rotation Fall 2010
Wu Qingyun
China, 1845–1916
Autumn Moon at Mt. Dongting
Qing Period (1644–1912)
1903
Hanging scroll, ink, and light color on paper
Gift of John Schloss, 1998/2.7
A Shanghai artist of the early twentieth century, Wu Qingyun uses dark, wet ink wash and light accents of color to capture the lyrical mood of an autumnal moonlit night at Lake Tai and Mount Dongting. Having traveled to Japan, Wu appears to have been aware of both Japanese-and European-style painting, drawing upon these to expand his artistic vision. Up close the boats appear as freely brushed lines, and yet at a distance, their forms come into focus. This subtle use of loose brushwork suggests Impressionism, marking the beginning of a new phase in the development of Chinese painting.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
This landscape painting shows rounded green mountains receding into the distance and soft sunlight streaming through billowy white clouds. In the foreground, painted in tones of dark brown and green, there is a rocky formation and a small waterfall formed by a stream passing over the rocks. One tall tree with lush greenery stands on the far left and a smaller tree frames the scene on the right. In the central part of the painting there is a stone house and pond. A few figures are scattered in this grassy area and someone stands in the open doorway of the house. The background shows a wide valley extending into the distance. Spots of sunlight highlight areas of the landscape such as the waterfall, the house, tree formations and the hillside above the house.
Subject Matter
Thomas Doughty was a well-known American landscape painter during the first half of the 19th century. This scene is an example of his evocative approach to landscape painting. Rather than showing a specific location, he constructed a scene of domestic tranquility within the natural beauty of the American wilderness. However, the cultivated land, with house, pond and human figures, is seen through the dark and wild vegetation of the forest surrounding it. Trees frame the composition on each side and lead the viewer's eye into the painting.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Landscape painting with green marshy field in foreground, a grouping of trees in the middle ground on right side of canvas, and blue sky with patches of soft clouds above.
Subject Matter
Typical of many of Eaton’s landscape paintings, “Twilight” depicts a marshy meadow with a grouping of trees executed in a Tonalist manner. Dominated by dark, neutral hues in grays, browns and blues, Eaton depicts the landscape with a sense of atmosphere or mist giving the work on an overall tone of wistfulness or nostalgia. Many 19th century American artists, like Eaton, felt a sense of longing for nature untouched by the hand of man, during a time when the Industrial Revolution brought about the clearing of enormous areas of land. The title itself, “Twilight,” is an allusion to the time when something is declining or approaching its end and darkness begins.
Label Copy
March 28 2009
Like the other Tonalist painters, such as Dwight William Tryon, also on view in this gallery, Eaton rejected the highly detailed Hudson River school style and its grand landscapes in favor of intimate and subjective views of nature. He painted landscapes almost exclusively, many of which, like Twilight, depict a marshy meadow with a grouping of trees, backlit by the setting sun and devoid of the presence of humans or animals. This painting is dominated by dark, neutral hues in grays, browns, and blues, and Eaton’s atmospheric rendering of the scene has imbued it with a sense of wistfulness or nostalgia. The title itself, Twilight, also the title of the Tryon in this gallery and of many other nineteenth-century landscapes—references the moment captured in the painting, a time when the day is approaching its end and darkness is beginning. Perhaps this was meant to encourage a state of reverie and nostalgic reflection on the past at a moment when the country was swiftly undergoing enormous changes and the settling and building up of vast areas of land left many with a longing for unspoiled nature.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Born July 10, 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of George Washington Whistler, a draftsman and civil engineer. In 1842 the senior Whistler was employed by the Russian government to help build a railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow. James Whistler thus spent seven years of his youth in Russia (1842-49). In 1851 he entered West Point Academy but was discharged in 1854, for deficiency in chemistry. He worked as a draftsman from 1854 to 1855 in the U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D.C., where he also learned to etch. In 1855 he left the United States for Paris and, after five years in France, settled in London. He never returned to the United States. He enjoyed great success in his life, as a painter and printmaker, but also struggled for acceptance and endured times of financial hardship.
Whistler studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia and at West Point Academy, but probably received his earliest artistic training from his father. In 1856 he entered the studio of Marc-Gabriel Charles Gleyre in Paris and became acquainted with Henri Martin, Henri Oulevey, George du Maurier, E. G. Poynter and L. M. Lamont. In 1858 Whistler met Fantin-Latour at the Louvre. Fantin-Latour took him to the Cafe Molière, where he met Legros, Carolus-Duran and Astruc and to the Brasserie Andler, the meeting place of Courbet and his followers. Fantin, Whistler, and Legros formed their own society, the Société des Trois in the same year. Later, in 1865, Albert Moore replaced Legros as the third member of the Société.
Whistler submitted the painting, At the Piano, to the Salon in 1859. Rejected by the Salon, the painting was exhibited in Francois Bonvin's studio. This was also the first painting by Whistler exhibited in Britain, at the Royal Academy, in 1860. Among Whistler's principal patrons early in his career include F. R. Leyland and W. C. Alexander and among major works he produced at this time are portraits of family members of these two men.
In England, Whistler became acquainted with the pre-Raphaelite circle of artists. He began collecting Japanese art and curios in the early 1860s and also is known to have visited the Salon des Refusés in Paris when many of the Impressionist painters were exhibiting there. Whistler's many connections with contemporary artists and wide interests make him an artist difficult to pigeonhole.
Two events in Whistler's life perhaps shed some light on his character: he sued John Ruskin for libel in 1877 (the fees incurred during the case forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1879) and in 1890 he published a book "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies."
Whistler married Beatrix Godwin, widow of E. W. Godwin, in 1888. She preceded him in death in 1896. Whistler died in London on July 17, 1903.
One-man exhibitions: 1874 London, Flemish Gallery; 1904 Memorial exhibition, Boston; 1905 Memorial exhibition, London and Paris
Memberships:
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, 1884; president, 1886-1888
First president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, 1898-1903
Officer of Legion of Honor, France
Member of Société Nationale des Artistes Françaises
Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
Chevalier of the Order of St. Michael of Bavaria
Honorary member of Royal Academies of Bavaria, Dresden, and of St. Luke in Rome
Sources: Groce, G. C. and D. H. Wallace, eds. "The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957; MacDonald, M. F. "James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995; McNamara, C. and J. Siewert, "Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision." London: Thames and Hudson, 1994; Opitz, Glenn B., ed. "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers," 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie: Apollo, 1986; Spencer, R. "Whistler: The Masterworks." London: Studio Editions, 1990.
A sweeping panorama of a city is visible from an elevated vantage point. Bridges cross a river and boats are evident. The river occupies the right side of the composition and the curving near bank of the river dominates the left side of the work. The cityscape includes many buildings, culimnating in one large dome in the distance. There is evidence that a window ledge exists along the bottom of the image and in the distance there are blustery clouds, indicating a leaden wintery sky.
Subject Matter
Drawn from the windows of the newly opened Savoy Hotel in London, this panorama long the north bank of the Thames shows Waterloo Bridge and the Victoria Embankment; in the distance are the dome of St. Paul's and other of London's bridges and buildings. Whistler and his wife lived in rooms on the top floor of the Savoy during Beatrix's final months before her death.
Inscription
On the stone, bottom center: Butterfly monogram Collector's mark: T.R.W. (in rectangle) Thomas Robert Way. Lugt 2456
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Born July 10, 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of George Washington Whistler, a draftsman and civil engineer. In 1842 the senior Whistler was employed by the Russian government to help build a railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow. James Whistler thus spent seven years of his youth in Russia (1842-49). In 1851 he entered West Point Academy but was discharged in 1854, for deficiency in chemistry. He worked as a draftsman from 1854 to 1855 in the U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D.C., where he also learned to etch. In 1855 he left the United States for Paris and, after five years in France, settled in London. He never returned to the United States. He enjoyed great success in his life, as a painter and printmaker, but also struggled for acceptance and endured times of financial hardship.
Whistler studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia and at West Point Academy, but probably received his earliest artistic training from his father. In 1856 he entered the studio of Marc-Gabriel Charles Gleyre in Paris and became acquainted with Henri Martin, Henri Oulevey, George du Maurier, E. G. Poynter and L. M. Lamont. In 1858 Whistler met Fantin-Latour at the Louvre. Fantin-Latour took him to the Cafe Molière, where he met Legros, Carolus-Duran and Astruc and to the Brasserie Andler, the meeting place of Courbet and his followers. Fantin, Whistler, and Legros formed their own society, the Société des Trois in the same year. Later, in 1865, Albert Moore replaced Legros as the third member of the Société.
Whistler submitted the painting, At the Piano, to the Salon in 1859. Rejected by the Salon, the painting was exhibited in Francois Bonvin's studio. This was also the first painting by Whistler exhibited in Britain, at the Royal Academy, in 1860. Among Whistler's principal patrons early in his career include F. R. Leyland and W. C. Alexander and among major works he produced at this time are portraits of family members of these two men.
In England, Whistler became acquainted with the pre-Raphaelite circle of artists. He began collecting Japanese art and curios in the early 1860s and also is known to have visited the Salon des Refusés in Paris when many of the Impressionist painters were exhibiting there. Whistler's many connections with contemporary artists and wide interests make him an artist difficult to pigeonhole.
Two events in Whistler's life perhaps shed some light on his character: he sued John Ruskin for libel in 1877 (the fees incurred during the case forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1879) and in 1890 he published a book "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies."
Whistler married Beatrix Godwin, widow of E. W. Godwin, in 1888. She preceded him in death in 1896. Whistler died in London on July 17, 1903.
One-man exhibitions: 1874 London, Flemish Gallery; 1904 Memorial exhibition, Boston; 1905 Memorial exhibition, London and Paris
Memberships:
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, 1884; president, 1886-1888
First president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, 1898-1903
Officer of Legion of Honor, France
Member of Société Nationale des Artistes Françaises
Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
Chevalier of the Order of St. Michael of Bavaria
Honorary member of Royal Academies of Bavaria, Dresden, and of St. Luke in Rome
Sources: Groce, G. C. and D. H. Wallace, eds. "The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957; MacDonald, M. F. "James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995; McNamara, C. and J. Siewert, "Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision." London: Thames and Hudson, 1994; Opitz, Glenn B., ed. "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers," 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie: Apollo, 1986; Spencer, R. "Whistler: The Masterworks." London: Studio Editions, 1990.
A French town, with houses along a canal or river in the foreground extends in the distance showing rooflines and towers under a blustery sky.
Subject Matter
During the 1893, the Whistlers made several trips to Brittany and the Low Countries. This transfer lithograph is an early example during which the artist incorported stump in his lithographs. The town of Vitré is shown from a high vantage point and is one of a group of architectural views he executed during this trip to Brittany.
Label Copy
Vitré—The Canal
1893
Transfer lithograph with stumping
Only state (Way 39; Chicago 63)
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.435
The Whistlers traveled to Brittany during the summer of 1893, and the lithographs that resulted from that trip were among the artist’s most innovative. Vitré was one of the first in which he experimented with soft crayons and very fine-grained transfer paper in conjunction with stumping. The capacity of stump to further soften lines allowed Whistler to create delicate tonal ranges in lithography that correspond to the soft networks of minute lines that characterize his Amsterdam etchings.
When the drawing arrived in London, the printer Way and his associates were surprised to see this use of stump on lithographic paper and doubted that it could be successfully transferred to a stone. Whistler, too, feared that the image was too amorphous and would appear “coarse” when transferred. The Ways, however, were able to capture all the subtlety and nuance of Whistler’s drawing and he was delighted with the results. After this first success, Whistler often incorporated stump in his lithographs.
Inscription
On the stone, on building at right: Butterfly monogram Signed, in pencil, bottom left: Butterfly monogram Collector's mark: Rosalind Birnie Philip. Lugt 406 Watermark: F I PRO PATRIA etc.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Landscape painting with white mountain peak in center background, body of water in foreground, and a Native American encampment to left.
Subject Matter
Painted from The Dalles, an area known as the end of the Oregon Trail along the Columbia River, this view of Mount Hood, the surrounding Oregon landscape, and a Native American encampment is a composite picture, painted from memory with the aid of sketches and daguerreotypes.
Stanley was a largely self-taught artist who developed his style, reminiscent of the Hudson River School of painters, as a staff artist for expeditions to the West in the 1840 and 50s.
Label Copy
March 28, 2009
The beginning of westward migration and the California Gold Rush of 1849 together gave rise to a growing interest in the frontier. Like many nineteenth-century paintings, Mount Hood from the Dalles gave curious viewers a glimpse of this storied western landscape. Stanley, who was also a trained photographer, accompanied several expeditions to the Oregon territory. He painted this view of Mount Hood years later from memory with the aid of sketches and daguerreotypes made during his trips. Looming in the distance is the majestic Mount Hood; in the foreground is an encampment of Native Americans.
Stanley is probably best known for his serene, carefully observed representations of Native Americans, whether in the form of portraits or figures in panoramic landscapes like Mount Hood from the Dalles. His intentions in documenting Native American life were complex. At the same time that he assumed the persona of an anthropologist, keen on recording a threatened culture, he also created traveling shows and “Indian” panoramas that perpetuated stereotypes and catered to an audience largely supportive of policies that were causing the wholesale decimation of that culture. Whether intentionally or not, simply by showing Indians at one with the landscape, paintings like this one reinforced for viewers the idea that the United States was destined to “civilize” the country and its native inhabitants from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
