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Whistler exhibit open
to public in Detroit
By Emily Stack
Collegian Reporter
While James McNeill
Whistler painted art for art's sake, the current exhibit at
the Detroit Institute of Art highlights his innovations and
his contemporaries for their skillful execution.
The DIA exhibit, "American Attitude:
Whistler and his Followers," highlights Whistler's main
aesthetic innovations and displays artists whose work was influenced
by Whistler's. Yet a troubling predicament arises from this
broad display of influence. From the exhibit, it seems that
the pupils have become more proficient than the master.
Any Hillsdale student wise enough to take
an art history survey course will remember Whistler for his
revolutionary "Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling
Rocket," or his pop-culture icon, "Arrangement in
Grey and Black, No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother."
Both paintings and other less notorious Whistler pieces are
presented along with contemporaries of Whistler and those influenced
by him.
Linda Merrill, organizing curator of the Whistler
exhibition, deserves much applause for the visual finesse and
contextual elements she has incorporated. Both artistic and
historic elements are highlighted throughout the exhibit.
When surrounded by the works of other artists,
Whistler's pieces, however innovative they may have been, dull
in comparison to the craftsmanship and agility artistic posterity
would apply to his advancements.
Being the first in an artistic movement does
not mean being the best.
The aesthetic experience is dulled by familiarity.
Whistler's mother has been shown too often, imitated, trivialized
and mocked. The once unique composition has become predictable;
The imagery has already dried up from overuse.
Sometimes, the experience of being face to
face with a familiar painting is ruined by wrongly estimated
familiarity. The controversial "Falling Rocket" was
small and less vibrant than one might expect from photographs
in so many modern art texts. "Portrait of the Artist's
Mother" was surprisingly huge without utilizing its monumental
proportion to emphasize its aesthetic substance. Whistler's
portrait aesthetic may have changed many artistic views, but
the painting that made this change was unimpressive in both
its color choice and brushwork skills.
Luckily, a vibrant and dark portrait by Robert
Henri revived artistic sensibilities. Additionally, while wandering
in despair after a disappointing Whistler exhibit, one might
be fortunate enough to enter the "Remix: Masterpieces from
Europe and America" exhibit. While the DIA is under construction,
it has consolidated its collections into an array of styles
and movements. The "Remix" highlights similarities
in drastically differing works. Nature and depictions of similar
phenomena set the thematic arrangement for the gallery. The
south wall is filled with different artistic renderings of water.
The white-speckled, translucent shapes seem
to imitate a sea urchin's shape and texture. This smaller example
illustrates the larger experience of walking into a room, stuffed
full of all different media, where a Cezanne, a Picasso and
a Stella all stand inches from one another because of a common
thread they share. Take two more steps, and you can gaze at
a beautifully inlaid European clock. Masters of their art and
craftsmen of ideas, this "Remix" gallery captures
the intensity and innovation of artwork, perfectly timed.
As you leave the DIA with mixed feelings,
take care to stay far away from Yoko Ono's Freight Train on
the South lawn. Sounds emitting from the bullet-speckled German
freight car make you lose any respect and seriousness you might
have gained from your museum experience.
After my experience with Whistler, perhaps
I shall stick to the glossy, hybrid photos in my art textbooks
The exhibit costs $12.50; call or
purchase tickets online (877)342-8497 or www.dia.org.
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