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Whistler’s Peacock Room opened for the first time in 25 years

Peacock Room

Peacock Room at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art

Peacock Room opens for the first time in 25 years The Freer Gallery of Art will open James McNeill Whistler’s ‘Peacock Room’ for public view on the third Thursday of each month, beginning August 18, 2011]]>

August 16th, 2011, source: Freer Gallery of Art / theartwolf

“Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room” was painted by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) in 1876–77. Widely considered a masterpiece of the Anglo-Japanese style, the entire room was purchased by American industrialist and aesthete Charles Lang Freer in 1904. After his death, the Peacock Room was installed in the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Museums.

Beginning August 18th, visitors to the Freer Gallery of Art will have a chance to admire the room for the first time in 25 years. According to the Gallery, visitors will “experience the tonal subtleties and decorative variations of Whistler’s room visible only in natural sunlight.”

This time, the Freer Gallery has installed ultraviolet- and visible-light-filtering film on the windows of the room, allowing visitors to see the beauty of the room in natural light and minimizing the effects of light fading.

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Whistler’s Peacock Room opened for the first time in 25 years