The pioneering artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) visited the Netherlands more than ten times between 1863 and 1902. It was one of his favourite destinations. He regarded the dreamlike etchings he made of Amsterdam’s canals as his finest work.
Whistler’s refined watercolours and small-scale paintings also reveal his love of the watery Dutch landscape. He worked in towns and provinces including Dordrecht and Zeeland.
‘Holland is the country for artists. It has atmosphere.’
In this exhibition, Whistler’s work is shown alongside that of Dutch contemporaries. His visits to the Netherlands did not go unnoticed. Whistler had a keen eye for the beauty of the Dutch landscape, prompting Dutch artists to look anew at their own country. This resulted in atmospheric waterscapes by artists including Willem Witsen and George Hendrik Breitner.
Contact with Mesdag
Whistler was also frequently in contact with Hendrik Willem Mesdag, who likely encouraged him to paint the Scheveningen coastline and the North Sea. On his final day in the Netherlands, Whistler visited Museum Mesdag. More than a century later, this is where the remarkable works and stories of his time in the Netherlands are on view.
This exhibition is presented in parallel with Whistler. Dandy and Disruptor at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
James McNeill Whistler, Snow, Amsterdam, 1882, watercolour on paper, private Collection
James McNeill Whistler, The Embroidered Curtain, 1889, Etching and drypoint on paper, 24 × 16 cm, Amsterdam City Archives
James McNeill Whistler, The Pierrot [from the Amsterdam Set], 1889, Etching and drypoint on paper, 23.1 × 15.9 cm, Amsterdam City Archives
James McNeill Whistler, Zaandam, 1889, Etching and drypoint on paper, 13 × 21.6 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Purchased with the support of the F.G. Waller-Fonds
