"Palaces of Art: Whistler and the Art Worlds of Aestheticism," symposium 27-28 October at the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

"Palaces of Art: Whistler and the Art Worlds of Aestheticism," a two-day symposium at the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, features presentations by international scholars consider how issues of patronage, collecting, display, and critical interpretation shaped the Aesthetic art movement, its theories and practices, and its reception in a global context. Through the introduction of new approaches to Aestheticism, scholars challenge conceptions about the place of James McNeill Whistler and his international circle of contemporaries within the Aesthetic movement.
This symposium honors the achievements of Professor Margaret MacDonald of the University of Glasgow. It is organized by the Lunder Consortium for Whistler Studies, a scholarly collaboration of the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Colby College Museum of Art, and the University of Glasgow. It is the first in a series of conferences supporting the consortium’s mission of promoting innovative scholarship on the art of James McNeill Whistler and his international circle of contemporaries.
“Palaces of Art: Whistler and the Art Worlds of Aestheticism” is made possible by the generosity of the Lunder Foundation.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. The proceedings will be archived and available online for future reference.

Thursday and Friday, 27-28 October 2011
Meyer Auditorium
Freer Gallery of Art
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC

For more information, contact:

Margaret Laster
Fellow, Lunder Consortium for Whistler Studies
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
LasterM@si.edu

Image: Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen. James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903). Oil on wood panel, 1864. Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, F1904.75a.