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A staute of artist James McNeill Whistler next to text reading: James McNeill Whistler Distinguised Art Award 2022.
 

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Detail of an untitled painting by Arshile Gorky, which features a white vase with pink flowers on a blue background.

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Lecture: Wednesday, August 16th at 6:30 PM

The Whistler House Museum of Art (WHMA) is proud to once again host acclaimed artist and instructor Paul Ingbretson for a lecture, entitled "The Abstract Connection: Exploring Art through Whistler and Degas."

 

In 1855, James McNeill Whistler arrived in Paris, determined to alter the world of art forever. Here, he became acquainted with esteemed artists Gustav Courbet, Alphonse Legros, and Henri Fantin-Latour, as well as the then emerging artist, Edgar Degas. Both Whistler and Degas were fascinated with depictions of everyday life, of the people, places, and events central to Parisian culture.
 

 

Edgar Degas, Dancers in Blue, 1890, Oil on canvas, 33.5 x 29.6 in., Musée d'Orsay.

 
This love for music, architecture, and culture encouraged the artists to push the boundaries of art, to strive for perfection through abstraction. For Degas, this meant using loose brushstrokes with bright, pastel colors. For Whistler, abstraction meant conveying emotion and tone through aesthetics.
 
While their specific styles differed, their intentions were the same: to turn painting away from simply illustrations, instead stressing beauty over subject. As Whistler preached in his later artistic career — "Art for art's sake."
 
Paul Ingbretson, a professional artist and instructor, delves into the personal and artistic relationship between world-renowned artists Whistler and Degas. By combining decades of art history knowledge with his experiences as an artist, Ingbretson encourages visitors to take a closer look at art, finding themselves in the brushwork of two of the greatest artists to ever live.
 


James McNeill Whistler, At the Piano, 1858–1859, Oil on canvas, 26 5/8 x 36 3/4 in., Taft Museum of Art.

 

 

 

 

Paul Ingbretson is a top tier professional artist, teacher, and leading modern-day exponent of what became known as the "Boston School" of American art. His background includes several years at the Art Students League of New York alongside many of their top artists. Ingbretson ultimately organized his artistic approach around the values, work, analysis, and writings associated with the "Boston School," as interpreted by the late R. H. Ives Gammell. Paul is equally adept and talented in painting portraits, interiors, still lifes, and landscapes, and teaches privately in Lawrence, Massachusetts and Haverhill, New Hampshire. He was a long serving president of the prestigious Guild of Boston Artists, which was initially formed at the beginning of the 20th Century by the artists responsible for the evolution of the "Boston School."

 

 

Cover images: James McNeill Whistler, detail of Symphony in White and Red, ca. 1868, Oil on millboard mounted on wood panel, 18.7 x 24.25 in., Freer Gallery of Art.

 

Edgar Degas, detail of The Cafe Concert (The Song of the Dog), 1875-1877, Gouache and pastel, 20.4 x 16.8 in. Private Collection.

 

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