The world's most meme-famous painting is heading to Tate Britain

"Bringing together around 150 works, the exhibition promises a rare, once-in-a-generation chance to see the full range of Whistler's output, from painting and drawing to printmaking and design. The exhibition opens with a room inspired by Whistler's own studio. Four key self-portraits spanning his career will be shown together for the first time, surrounded by objects from his personal collection - East Asian ceramics, Japanese prints, artist-designed furniture, and even his easel, palette, and brushes - to recreate his working world."

"Whistler's famously nomadic life, which took him across four continents, is explored in depth. For the first time, his teenage years are examined through studies made at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg and at West Point in the United States, including his earliest notebooks, now on public display for the first time. After moving to Paris at 21, Whistler immersed himself in bohemian life, developing a lifelong fascination with working-class subjects and urban spaces."

"His etchings of modern life are reassessed alongside early oil paintings from nature, portraits of friends, and the self-portrait Whistler Smoking (1856-60), which has been unseen since his death. In his late twenties, he shuttled between Paris and London, experimenting with early impressionist techniques and painting landscapes en plein air - from the French coast to the industrial drama of the River Thames."

A large retrospective of James McNeill Whistler assembles around 150 works across painting, drawing, printmaking and design for the first UK show of this scale in over 30 years. A recreated studio presents four key self-portraits alongside East Asian ceramics, Japanese prints, artist-designed furniture, and the artist's easel and brushes. Early studies from the Imperial Academy and West Point and Whistler's earliest notebooks appear on public display. The display traces his Parisian bohemian period, etchings of modern life, early oils painted from nature, and plein air landscapes from the French coast to the River Thames.

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