Individual Media Tours for the Exhibition “Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler’s Peacock Room”

A composite image bifurcated by a diagonal white line. On the left is a stylized gold peacock against a green background; on the right is a portrait of a bearded, thin-faced man against a dark background.

Composite image: Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (detail), James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United Kingdom, 1876–77, room installation; oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art, F1904.61; Arrangement in Black: Portrait of F. R. Leyland (detail), James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), United States, 1870–73, oil on canvas, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art, F1905.100a–b

May 21, 2024 | National Museum of Asian Art

WHAT:	Individually scheduled press tours for “Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler’s Peacock Room”
WHEN:	Opening tours July 13–20; on view July 13, 2024–Jan. 31, 2027
WHERE:	Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, Freer Gallery of Art 1050 Independence Ave. S.W.
WHO:	Diana Greenwold, Lunder Curator of American Art

Members of the media are invited to view the exhibition “Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler’s Peacock Room” at the National Museum of Asian Art. From the moment of its creation, the Peacock Room has been a personal, artistic and cultural battleground. Created by artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) for the London home of British businessman Frederick Leyland, the room has a dramatic and complex origin story that works in the Freer Gallery of Art collection help reveal.

Situating audiences in London during the room’s formation between 1874 and 1876, “Ruffled Feathers” offers a unique opportunity to see intimate and formal portraits Whistler created of the Leyland family that chronicle the personal relationships that flourished and fractured over the course of the room’s creation. Additional paintings and examples of design from Leyland’s home help people understand how Whistler incorporated motifs sourced from Asia throughout his designs. The project also spurred a new era of artistic experimentation for the artist. On view next to the Peacock Room, “Ruffled Feathers” invites people to explore this famous interior’s tangled history through paintings, works on paper and decorative art.

The exhibition grew out of a 2022 Peacock Room Think Tank co-sponsored with the Chipstone Foundation. During this convening, we gathered artists, interpretation specialists and art historians to discuss new approaches to this iconic space. Those thought-provoking conversations inspired this exhibition’s goal to reveal new perspectives on this remarkable work of art.

Diana Greenwold, Lunder Curator of American Art

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Individual Media Tours for the Exhibition “Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler’s Peacock Room”

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