Van Gogh Museum to display rare Whistler painting on loan from White House

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam will host a rare loan from the White House collection in the coming months. The painting, Nocturne, was created by American artist James McNeill Whistler between 1875 and 1878. It normally hangs in the White House's Treaty Room and is seldom exhibited outside Washington.

The night-time view of the River Thames, Nocturne, is part of a two-part exhibition dedicated to Whistler. Titled Dandy and Nonconformist, the exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum brings together around 100 works by the 19th-century artist, who worked as a painter, draughtsman, and etcher. Visitors can also see his best-known painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother, which art historians have dubbed the “Mona Lisa of the 19th century.”

The Mesdag Collection in The Hague will explore Whistler's ties to the Netherlands in a concurrent exhibition titled In Love with the Netherlands. The American artist painted and produced etchings in Amsterdam, Dordrecht, and Zeeland, influencing Dutch artists such as Mesdag, Breitner, and Witsen. Van Gogh, too, greatly admired Whistler's work.

Born in the United States in 1834, Whistler spent most of his professional career in Paris and London. He went on to become one of the leading artists of the 19th century. The Van Gogh Museum describes him as “one of the fiercest advocates of the idea that art should serve no moral, social, or political purpose, but could exist purely for its own beauty.”

Tate Britain in London hosted the retrospective earlier this year, exhibiting 150 works by Whistler. The exhibitions at Amsterdam's Van Gogh Museum and The Hague's Mesdag Collection will run from October 16 to January 10.