Exploring the theme of Whistler in Action, this two-day conference will look at the multi continent-spanning artistic career of James McNeill Whistler in-depth
Supported by The Manton Foundation Fund for Historic British Art Scholarship.
Thursday 18 June
9.30–10.00, Registration and coffee
10.00–10.10, Welcome and Introduction – Isobel Muir
10.10–10.30, Whistler in Action – Carol Jacobi
Whistler’s Finish
10.30–10.50, Deborah Lam, ‘Whistler at Re-Work: Doing, Undoing, Redoing’
10.50–11.10, Anastasia Belyaeva, ‘The Delicate Line: Drypoint and the Poetics of Non-finito in Whistler’s Prints’
11.10–11.30, Elena Cooper, ‘Whistler’s ‘Finish’ in Art and Law: The Story of Whistler’s Portrait of Lady Eden’
11.30–11.50, Q&A and discussion chaired by Carol Jacobi
11.50–12.10, Tea and coffee
Whistler USA
12.10–12.30, Elisa Germàn, ‘Nocturnes in Blue and Silver: Robert Walter Weir, West Point, and the Formative Years of James McNeill Whistler’
12.30–12.50, Alexis Clark, ‘Whistler at War’
12.50–13.10, Grischka Petri, ‘Classifying Whistler: The American element in the 1890s and beyond’
13.10–13.30, Q&A and discussion chaired by Elisa Germàn
13.30–14.30, Lunch
Whistler in Paris
14.30–14.50, Jane McCree, ‘Head of a Peasant Woman’
14.50–15.10, Emmanuela Wroth, ‘Finette, Whistler and the ''Right to Opacity'’
15.10–15.30, Q&A and discussion
15.30–16.00, Tea and coffee
Whistler and Abstraction
16.00–16.20, Gabriella Macaro, 'Illuminating Nocturne Black and Gold: The Fire Wheel’
16.20–16.40, Nicholas Dunn McAfee, ‘Poetry and Paint: Swinburne, Whistler, and Intermedial Abstraction’
16.40–17.00, Q&A and discussion chaired by Frances Fowle
18.15–20.00, Manton Entrance: James McNeill Whistler exhibition Private View and Whistler’s Finish event with Joyce Townsend, Adrian Moore, Amy Griffin, Gabriella Macaro, Jane McCree, Rachel Scott and Alex Lawson.
Friday 19 June
9.30–10.00, Registration and coffee
Whistler’s Legacy
10.00–10.20, Renske Suijver, ‘Following in his Footsteps. Whistler’s Legacy in the Netherlands’
10.20–10.40, Georgia Toutziari, ‘The Quiet Interior: Space, Silence, and Psychological Meaning in Whistler and Hammershøi’
10.40–11.00, Isobel Muir, ‘Idas Lees: Uncovering a Whistlerian Mystery’
11.00–11.20, Q&A and discussion chaired by Daniel Sutherland
11.20–11.40, Tea and coffee
East Asian Conversations
11.40–12.00, Aileen Tsui, ‘The Japanese Curtain in Whistler’s Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter’s Mother’
12.00–12.20, Rachel Scott, ‘‘In its own proper place’: The Making of Miss May Alexander’
12.20–12.40, Ayako Ono, ‘Searching for Nampo Joshi: The Artistic Milieu of the Woman Behind Whistler's Screen’
12.40–13.00, Q&A and discussion chaired by Isobel Muir
13.00–13.45, Lunch
Whistler in Chile
13.45–14.05, Daniel Sutherland, ‘Chile and the Origins of Whistler’s Nocturnes’
14.05–14.25, Julieta Sotomaior Ogaz , ‘A Room with a View: Whistler and Valparaiso in Times of War, 1866’
14.25–14.45, Joyce Townsend, ‘Whistler’s paintings of Valparaiso, Chile, in 1866. Joyce H. Townsend, Amy Griffin and Jane McCree’
14.45–15.00, Q&A and discussion chaired by Julieta Sotomaior Ogaz
15.00–15.20, Tea and coffee
Music and Whistler
15.20–15.40, Corrinne Chong, ‘Société à Trois and Music’
15.40–16.00, Marte Stinis, ‘‘Have painting do the work of music’: Whistler and the Art of Performance’
16.00–16.20, Clare Willsdon, ‘Voices on the Air: Whistler’s prints of Paris gardens’
16.20–16.40, Q&A and discussion chaired by Charlotte deMille
Keynote
16.40–17.10, Linda Merrill, ‘“Art Seeks the Artist Alone”: Whistler & Sarasate’
17.10–17.30, Plenary, Q&A and discussion chaired by Carol Jacobi
Tate Britain's Staff Entrance is on John Islip Street. It is step-free and there is a ramp down to the entrance with handrails.
The Clore Auditorium is on the Lower floor of the gallery.
- Accessible, standard and Changing Places toilets are located on the Lower floor.
- Ear defenders can be borrowed from the ticket desk on the Lower floor.
To help plan your visit to Tate Britain, have a look at our visual story. It includes photographs and information about what you can expect from a visit to the gallery.
For more information before your visit:
- Email hello@tate.org.uk
- Call +44 (0)20 7887 8888 (daily 10.00–17.00)
