DETROIT, MICHIGAN.- The Detroit Institute of Arts is currently still offering the exhibition “American Attitude: Whistler and His Followers” through June 6, 2004.The contemporary notion that artists are innovators and revolutionary thinkers, yet also somewhat eccentric , may as well have come directly from the biography of James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903). In his time, Whistler was as well known for his new ideas about art as he was for his letter-writing campaigns, lawsuits, and verbal barbs directed at critics, dealers, and other artists who misunderstood his work.
At age twenty-one, Whistler left the U.S. to study and work in Paris and London— international centers for fine art. Although Whistler never returned to his native country, he was always considered an American. His attitude toward painting and his challenging ideas often perplexed the European art establishment but inspired fellow American artists.
“American Attitude: Whistler and His Followers” celebrates the influential work of Whistler and his impact on American painting. Among the 63 paintings is his most famous work, “Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 1”, and the portrait of the Artist’s mother, commonly referred to as "Whistler’s Mother." Other signature works by Whistler include “Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl” from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., as well as the DIA’s own “Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket”. The exhibition is organized in a way that shows Whistler’s unique handling of compositional and tonal arrangements and their impact. Other Whistler paintings are on view, along with works by American artists who were influenced by his innovative ideas including John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Henry Ossawa Tanner and others.
Early in his career, James McNeill Whistler submitted “Symphony in White, No.1: The White Girl” to two esteemed annual European exhibitions—the Royal Academy in London, England, and the Paris Salon in France. The painting was rejected at both. It was shown in a less notable exhibition in 1863 and received tentative reviews. While the painting’s white tones and the lily held by the woman imply purity, her morning dress and disheveled hair suggest impropriety. This ambiguity baffled the European critics and public: “Folk nudged each other and went almost into hysterics; there was always a grinning group in front of [The White Girl].”—Emile Zola, novelist, 1886; “It is one of the most incomplete paintings we have ever met with. A woman, in a quaint morning dress of white, with her hair about her shoulders, stands alone, in the background of nothing in particular.”—F.G. Stevens, critic, June, 1862.
Critics tried to create a story behind the painting’s subject, inventing various
interpretations. They called the model a “sleepwalker," "a newly deflowered bride," and an "apparition.” Whistler left no clues as to how the painting should be read. He said, “My painting simply represents a girl dressed in white standing in front of a white curtain.” The real “story” was Whistler’s manifestation of art for art’s sake—his focus on color, line and composition—not the subject matter of the painting.
When the painting was shown in the United States 10 years later, the public generally reacted differently. The model was described as “attractive and even fascinating” with a “singular and an indescribable face, full of the strangest and subtlest expression.” American artists soon imitated the work, creating their own paintings in the manner of Whistler’s White Girl.
