Talk

Whistler, Chelsea's Greatest Artist - with Antony Clayton (ONLINE)

14 Jul 2020

Regular hours

Tuesday
10:00 – 18:00

Save Event: Whistler, Chelsea's Greatest Artist - with Antony Clayton (ONLINE)

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Westminster Reference Library

London
England, United Kingdom

Address

Travel Information

  • Tube: Charing X / Leicester Square
  • Charing Cross
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Author Anthony Clayton, will discuss the works of one of the most controversial artists - James Whistler. This event will take place via Microsoft Teams, those who book will be sent a link to join us.

About

Antony Clayton will give an illustrated talk about one of the greatest artists of the Victorian London scene, James McNeill Whistler.

About this Event

Hosted by Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea Libraries

Painter, printmaker, teacher, critic, polemicist, flamboyant dandy, acerbic wit, ebullient self-publicist, irascible litigant and a serious artist of considerable refinement, Whistler (1834-1903) was one of the most controversial figures in the London art world of the late-Victorian period.

Educated in the Parisian studio of Charles Gleyre and influenced by Japanese art and design, Whistler spent many of his most productive years in Chelsea, capturing crepuscular atmospheric effects on the Thames and producing some of his most memorable portraits.

His distinctive Nocturnes, Arrangements, Symphonies and Harmonies verged on abstraction and challenged the orthodox Victorian belief in the primacy of subject matter, so much so, that John Ruskin famously accused him of, “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face”.

Many writers of the time, such as Baudelaire, Mallarmé, Verlaine, Swinburne and Oscar Wilde, were fascinated by his work, although he often fell out with friends and admirers.

Antony Clayton is the author of a number of books, including Decadent London, London’s Coffee Houses and Netherwood: Last Resort of Aleister Crowley. He lives in Hastings.

*Please note that this event is going to take place via Teams live broadcast. All those who book will be sent an email from the library before the sessions, with the link to join. You do not need to have Microsoft Teams downloaded on your device to access the talk, but you will get a better experience if you have the app, which is free and available from your usual app store.

Attendees are invited to use the Q&A chat to ask any questions during the talk - the questions will be answered at the end.

What to expect? Toggle

Exhibiting artistsToggle

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

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