James Abbot McNeill Whistler
Peintre américain incontournable du la fin du XIXe siècle, ami des plus grands artistes de son époque et Anglais d’adoption, James Abbott McNeill Whistler était un adepte de « l’art pour l’art ». Ses peintures, des portraits devenus iconiques, s’inspirent du symbolisme et de l’impressionnisme. Retour sur le parcours de cet artiste à l’occasion de l’exposition qui lui est consacrée au Musée d’Orsay à partir du 8 février.
1 The Frick Collection
It opened to the public in 1935 in the New York mansion of the industrial magnate and major collector Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), is one of the most important museums of European art in the United States. Due to renovations at the museum, an important group of works by the American painter James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) will leave New York for the first time in more than a century to be presented early next year at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
mansion manoir / magnate magnat / collector collectionneur / work ici, oeuvre.
2 James Abbot McNeill Whistler
He is one of the great American painters of the 19th century. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Whistler began his career in Paris between 1855 and 1859. After settling in London, he maintained a close connection with the Parisian art scene, exhibiting alongside the artists at the Salon des Refusés (Exhibition of Rejects), in 1863, becoming one of the “beacons” of the new Symbolist generation of the 1890s.
to be born and raised être né et avoir grandi / to settle (s’)installer / to exhibit exposer / alongside aux côtés de / beacon figure phare, emblème.
3 Russian Connection
Whistler’s father was a successful railroad engineer, and when Nicholas I of Russia learned of George Whistler’s ingenuity in engineering the Boston & Albany Railroad, and he offered him a position in 1842 engineering a railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and the family moved to St. Petersburg in the winter of 1842/43.
railroad ferroviaire / ingenuity ingéniosité, habileté / position poste.
4 Also on display
Whistler lived most of his life in the UK and his most famous painting, commonly known as Whistler’s Mother, a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood, was painted there. It is held by the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, having been bought by the French state in 1891. It is one of the most famous works by an American artist outside the United States and has been variously described as an American icon and a Victorian Mona Lisa.
on display exposé / revered admiré / motherhood maternité / to hold, held, held détenir / variously selon le cas, à tour de rôle / icon icône, grande figure.