HARMONY IN BLUE AND GOLD: THE PEACOCK ROOM
The peacock motif appears in different forms throughout the Peacock Room. Four peacocks adorn the shutters while a pair of dueling fowls representing the room’s owner, Frederick Leyland, and its artist, James McNeill Whistler, appear on the south wall. Half-moon shapes on the paneling and ceiling evoke the eye of a peacock feather and reveal Whistler’s fascination with Japanese design. Throughout the room, the shimmering gold topped with blue-green suggests the sheen of the bird's feathers.
When designing this room, James McNeill Whistler took his cues from Chinese ceramics and Japanese textiles—in particular, his own collection of blue-and-white Chinese porcelain and similar objects owned by Frederick Leyland that would go on view in the room. After Whistler and Leyland quarreled over the extent of the artist’s decorations and his fee, Whistler painted two warring peacocks to exemplify the conflict between art and money.
Object Number
F1904.61
Date
1876–77
Artist
James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)
Place of Origin
United States
Medium
Oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, mosaic tile, glass, and wood
Dimensions
H × W × D (overall): 421.6 × 613.4 × 1026.2 cm (166 × 241 1/2 × 404 in.)
Credit line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer