A Red Note: Fête on the Sands, Ostend

A Red Note: Fête on the Sands, Ostend shows a festive crowd gathered on the beach at the Belgian seaport to greet their monarchs, Leopold II and Queen Clementine, on their return from Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee celebration in England. The sketchy scene of a mass of people on the beach under an overcast sky is thinly painted in drab colors relieved by the shapes of large flags. On the far left, the black, yellow, and red banner of Belgium is partly obscured by a blue flag bearing the fleur-de-lis, probably a reference to Queen Clementine’s French descent; on the right, the “red note” of James McNeill Whistler’s title is provided by the Red Ensign, the British naval flag, which was flown at that time from merchant ships. The painting thus commemorates the expatriate American artist’s relationship to his two adoptive countries, England and France, between which he divided his long career. Moreover, the work’s title, one of many by which the artist drew an analogy between painting and music, announces the primacy of simple color over narrative or imposed meaning as the painting’s subject. A Red Note: Fête on the Sands, Ostend was included in one of a series of solo exhibitions Whistler pointedly titled 'Notes'—'Harmonies'—'Nocturnes’, in which the Terra Foundation’s A Note in Red: The Siesta (TF 1999.149) was also shown.

On his frequent visits to Paris from his home in London, Whistler often passed through Ostend, a popular seaside resort with regular steamer service to Dover, England. In the autumn of 1887, the artist was making a sketching tour of Holland and Belgium with his brother and sister-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. William Whistler. Early the following year, Whistler showed A Red Note: Fête on the Sands, Ostend in the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists, of which he was then president. His leadership of this conservative organization was controversial not only because of the reforms he autocratically pursued, but because of his advocacy of avant-garde art in its exhibitions. The 1888 annual included a number of works by French painter Claude Monet (1840–1926), Whistler’s longtime friend and a leader of the radical movement known as impressionism, which sought to capture the instantaneous effects of contemporary subjects in bright, undiluted color applied in broken brushstrokes. Whistler’s own ideal of painting as the orchestration of poetic effects achieved through the manipulation of such formal values as color, line, and composition differed from the dispassionately scientific approach of some impressionists. However, Whistler’s and Monet’s common challenge to artistic conventions that understood painting as an illusionistic window onto imagined, idealized three-dimensional reality, laid the foundation for the development of modernism at the turn of the century. With rapid, on-site execution and expressive, reductive evocation of a transient moment, A Red Note: Fête on the Sands, Ostend has been cited as one of Whistler’s paintings that most clearly reveals his sympathy with Monet’s impressionism. Evidence indicates that it was also one of Whistler’s favorite works.

Winter Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street, Pall Mall, London, England, November 1887–1888, no. 277.

Exposition, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, France, May 25–June 25, 1888, no. 43.

'Notes'—'Harmonies'—'Nocturnes', H. Wunderlich & Company, New York, New York, March 1889, no. 40. [Whistler's first one-man show in America.]

Exposition Générale des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium, May–June 1890, no. 842.

Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Copley Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, February 1904, no. 2.

Whistler: The Later Years, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan, August 27–October 8, 1978, no. 58.

A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, April 21–June 21, 1987. [exh. cat.]

Selections from the Permanent Collection: Americans at Home and Abroad, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 6–29, 1987.

An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 28–October 1, 1988.

Whistler and His Circle, Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota, April 9–June 25, 1989. [exh. cat.]

Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 1992.

Regard sur James Abbott McNeill Whistler (James Abbott McNeill Whistler at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–October 30, 1994 (on exhibit partial run: April 1–September 18, 1994).

James McNeill Whistler: Retrospective Exhibition, 1994–1995, Tate Gallery, London, England, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, France (Musée d'Orsay) and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (organizer). Venues: Tate Gallery, London, England, October 12, 1994–January 8, 1995; Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, France (Musée d'Orsay), February 6–April 30, 1995; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 28–August 20, 1995. [exh. cat.]

The Decorative Form: The Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts and the Asian Influence in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 16–December 5, 1999.

Selections from the Permanent Collection: American Artists in France, 1860–1910, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, March 10–June 3, 2001.

American Classics: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, January 26–September 1, 2002.

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Modern Harmonies: Whistler Reflects on his Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 31–August 31, 2003.

Studied Abroad: Painted Impressions from the Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 6, 2003–April 4, 2004.

A Narrative of American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, February 13–October 31, 2004 (on exhibition partial run: October 4–31, 2004).

Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, NY and Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, IL (organizers). Venues: National Museum of China, Beijing, China, February 9-April 5, 2007; Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China, April 30-June 30, 2007; Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, April 30-June 30, 2007. (Shanghai presentations ran concurrently); The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia, July 23–September 9, 2007; Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain, October 15, 2007–April 27, 2008 (exhibited in Bilbao). [exh. cat.]

American Impressionism: a New Vision, 1880–1900 (L'Impressionnisme et les Américains/ Impresionismo Americano (French & Spanish titles), Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France and the Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois in collaboration with the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain (organizers). Venues: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, Giverny, France, March 28–June 29, 2014; Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, July 19–October 19, 2014; Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain, November 4, 2014–February 1, 2015. [exh. cat.]

Gallery Installation, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts (organizer). Venues: Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts, June 27, 2015–May 31, 2016.

Manchester Courier (November 30, 1887). Text.

Building News (December 2, 1887). Text.

Leeds Mercury (December 10, 1887). Text.

Sun (March 10, 1889). Text.

Boston Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin (September 1904): 20. Text p. 20.

Pennell, Joseph and Elizabeth Robins. The Life of James McNeill Whistler. Vol. 2. London, England and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: W. Heinemann and J. B. Lippincott Company, 1908. Text p. 68.

Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, and Robin Spencer with the assistance of Hamish Miles. The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1980. Text no. 366, p. 167; pl. 235 (black & white).

Atkinson, D. Scott et al. A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art. Edited by Terry A. Neff. (exh. cat., Terra Museum of American Art). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987. Pl. T-39, p. 148 (color).

A Red Note: Fête on the Sands, Ostend, James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, October 1992. Ill. (black & white).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 38; fig. 26, p. 38 (black & white).

Gerdts, William H. et al. Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1992. Text p. 38; fig. 26, p. 38 (black & white).

Dorment, Richard and Margaret F. MacDonald et al. James McNeill Whistler. (exh. cat., Tate Gallery). London, England: Tate Gallery, 1994. Text no. 149, p. 231; ill. no. 149, p. 231 (color).

"Portrait D'Artiste." Connaissance des Arts Paris (1995): 26–27. Text p. 27; ill. no. 23, p. 26.

Regard sur cinq années d'expositions (Five years of Exhibitions at a Glance). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1997. Ill. p. 70 (color).

Davidson, Susan, ed. Art in the USA: 300 años de innovación. (exh. cat., Guggenheim Museum Bilbao). New York, NY: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Chicago, IL: Terra Foundation for American Art, 2007. (Spanish version). Ill. p. 117 (color).

Bourguignon, Katherine M. American Impressionism: A New Vision 1880-1900. (exh. cat., Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, National Galleries of Scotland, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza). Giverny, France: Musée des Impressionnismes Giverny, 2014. (English, French and Spanish versions). Ill. p. 123 (color).