Whistler and the Art of Scandal

James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) had a knack for generating scandal and intrigue. The American painter was recognisable by his white suit and white forelock as he walked his white poodle through Chelsea. He threw his brother-in-law through a plate glass window and sued John Ruskin for libel over a bad review. Even Dante Gabriel Rossetti, famous for hard living, felt moved to write a limerick about Whistler’s drunken brawls:

There’s a combative Artist named Whistler Who is, like his own hog–hairs, a bristler: A tube of white lead

And a punch on the head

Offer varied attractions to Whistler.

But there was no scandal bigger than Harmony in Blue and Gold, or The Peacock Room, as it became known. A dining parlour adorned with iridescent birds and a pattern of gilded peacock feathers, it created the immersive effect of an installation. What began as the decoration of a friend’s home turned into a battle of wills between patron and artist that entranced London society. It may even be seen as an early example of work as modern media event, in the style of art world sensations like Maurizio Cattelan’s viral banana The Comedian: its value dictated by the circumstances of its creation or reception.

The story began in 1876, when Whistler was commissioned to decorate the entrance hall of 49 Prince’s Gate: the Kensington home of Frederick Leyland, a Liverpudlian shipping magnate. He had been Whistler’s friend and patron for nine years and had paid for many works, despite receiving only a few. He asked Whistler his thoughts on the dining room, too, which had been designed by architect Thomas Jeckyll to house a collection of Chinese porcelain. When Jeckyll took time off for mental ill-health, Whistler took over the interior design job entirely.

Whistler’s changes were subtle at first. He believed the use of muted