26 Whistler works donated to Gibbes

When most hear the name James McNeill Whistler, they think of "Whistler's Mother," the painting often considered the quintessential symbol of American motherhood. However, many are not aware that Whistler was intrigued by the Japanese print and other Asian art forms that eventually became his predominant style. The Gibbes Museum of Art recently acquired 26 etchings and lithographs by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), donated to the museum by Dr. Anton Vreede, who moved to Kiawah Island from Binghamton, N.Y., in 2000. The gift was serendipitous in that the collection will be placed in the museum's Japanese Print Gallery, thus creating the exhibit title "Whistler and Japonisme," which opens Tuesday. The exhibit will be on view through Dec. 5, and the museum will keep the Whistler art in its permanent collection. "We are extremely excited about this generous gift and know people will enjoy it for years to come," says Gibbes chief curator Angela Mack. A native of Holland, Vreede began collecting etchings and lithographs by Whistler in 1982 as part of his larger collection of works of art by American artists working in the Netherlands. His recent gift establishes an essential link between the national and the international fascination for Japanese art and culture in the 19th and early 20th centuries and the art of the Charleston Renaissance Period (1914-1940). Japonisme in Western fine arts began with the admiration for "Ukiyo-e" prints of the Edo Period (1615-1868). One of the first American artists to react to the Western dissemination of such works, Whistler influenced many American artists to learn Eastern aesthetics, including artists working during the Charleston Renaissance, Mack says. The Gibbes' Japanese Print Collection contains 750 Japanese prints from the late 17th and early 18th century. The prints were donated to the Gibbes in three major gifts starting in 1947. This collection served as a major influence on several Charleston Renaissance artists, including Anna Heyward Taylor, Antoinette Rhett and Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, who helped assemble the prints. Born in Lowell, Mass., Whistler grew up partly in St. Petersburg, Russia, and received his formal education at the U.S. Military Academy. In 1855, at age 21, he left the United States to live permanently in Europe, according to arts reviewer Mark Harden. Initially settling in Paris, Whistler entered the Academie Gleyre, where he became a devotee of the Japanese print and other Asian art forms. The Vreede collection includes etchings that represent the full range of Whistler's artistic achievement and style in the print medium. The collection's emphasis is on images from the River Thames and Whistler's many views of the Netherlands. Mack says that several of the Whistler prints given to the Gibbes will be paired with the Japanese paintings the Gibbes already owns. For example, Whistler's "Old Putney Bridge, 1879," an etching on paper, will be paired with Ichiryusai Hiroshige's "The Bamboo Yards, Kyobashi Bridge," a woodblock print on paper. Gibbes Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission for nonmembers is $7 for general admission; $6 for senior citizens, students and members of the military and $4 for children 6-18. Children under 6 are admitted free.

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