The Arts Society, Havering’s October 2023 Talk will be – ‘The Irritating and Influential Mr. Whistler’ by Julia Musgrave

The talk will take place on Tuesday 10 October 2023 from 10:30am at the New Windmill Hall, St. Mary’s Lane, Upminster and is open to visitors for a fee of £8:00.

An American artist in London, James Abbott McNeill Whistler was a leading proponent of the idea of “art for art’s sake”. He signed his paintings with stylized monogram of a butterfly with a long stinger for a tail – as much a symbol of his love of Japanese art as his assertive and sometimes combative nature.

Having lived and worked with the Paris avant-garde he settled in London in 1859 having created a distinctive Post-Impressionist style at a time when many of his British contemporaries had yet to come to terms with Impressionism. Whistler’s art moved painting towards abstraction, sparked a renaissance in printmaking and gave us the Peacock Room, a masterpiece of interior design.

Inspired, influential, and infuriating, his art was full of subtle delicacy, he had a wide social network of friends and family and yet, if crossed, could be a formidable opponent. He mastered the art of making enemies.

For further details visit their website tashavering.org.uk/Lectures/FutureLectures.aspx or their Facebook page www.facebook.com/groups/199870022175485

You can also contact them by e-mail at info@tashavering.org.uk or phone 01708 221 903.

By Editor on 5th October 2023   /   News   /   Leave a comment