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The National Museum of Asian Art’s recent exhibition Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change documented artist James McNeill Whistler’s (1834–1903) fascination with commercial enterprises in the European cities where he spent his career. In this talk, curator Diana Greenwold will focus on a subset of these works—images of working women and their trades—revealing how Whistler’s unique consideration of the topic stood out from that of other artists of his time. Whistler established a visual lexicon, rare among his peers, that humanized many types of women’s labor that often went unseen. Though the artist famously eschewed his birthplace in Lowell, Massachusetts, his interest in the life cycle of clothing—the creation, cleaning, and trade of textiles and garments— evinces an allegiance to the core industry of his place of origin and to the women who worked in the cloth and clothing industries on both sides of the Atlantic.
This talk is part of the monthly lunchtime series Sneak Peek: New Research from the National Museum of Asian Art, where staff members present brief, personal perspectives and ongoing research, followed by discussion. This year, the online series focuses on the theme of word and image—including calligraphy, seals, inscriptions, manuals, narratives, and poetry—in the collections of the National Museum of Asian Art.
Diana Greenwold is the Lunder Curator of American Art at the National Museum of Asian Art and specializes in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American fine and decorative arts. She is particularly interested in stories of transnational exchange and the ways objects carry and transform culture. From 2014 to 2021, Diana served in various curatorial positions, ultimately as curator of American art at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine, where she spearheaded the reinterpretation of the Winslow Homer Studio. Her recent projects at NMAA include Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change and upcoming exhibitions about American landscapes and the history of the Peacock Room
Image:
Mme Pelletier, Blanchisserie, Paris, James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903), 1897–98, etching, ink on paper, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Gallery of Art Collection, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1904.16
Cost
Free
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Topics
Lectures & Discussions, Webcasts & Online
