AIC's 47th Annual Meeting

After his lawsuit against the art critic John Ruskin in 1878 and his subsequent bankruptcy, James McNeill Whistler rejuvenated his career with the production of a profusion of small works, including watercolors. Although “little” in size the watercolors were considered by Whistler to be on a par with his works in other media. These paintings departed from his early experiences with watercolor, incorporating techniques he employed in his oils, etchings and pastels. This paper will discuss results from a multiyear interdisciplinary research project at the Freer|Sackler to study Whistler’s watercolors, the largest collection in any one location. In the project, art historical research was combined with analysis of materials (supports and pigments), working methods, period writings on Whistler and archival research on colormen who dealt with Whistler. The combination of the several threads of research led to new findings that enrich our understanding of his watercolors and their place in his oeuvre.