In an era of great change and great beauty emerged the character of James McNeill Whistler. Considered by some to be one of the great innovators of 19th century art, he was a contemporary of the Impressionists, much admired by Van Gogh and Manet, and a truly unique character.  Tate Britain is currently staging the first major retrospective of Whistler in three decades. This blockbuster exhibition promises to reawaken the world to just how important Whistler is to art history, uniting world-famous masterpieces with rarely seen works.

Working in close collaboration with Tate Britain, Exhibition on Screen, the award-winning film company and unique arts brand behind critically acclaimed film releases Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition, Caravaggio and Frida Kahlo, is releasing JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER about the pioneering artist’s stunning works and the incredible story behind them to cinemas around the world while the exhibition is still running.

Bringing this truly global artist to a global audience, JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER will be an unmissable chance to see this visually spectacular artist on the big screen and appreciate the influence he has had on those who followed.

Boldly experimental and famously witty and irascible, Whistler disrupted the strict conventions of Victorian society in pursuit of a new cult of beauty, creating “art for art’s sake” and earning himself a place in the history of great art.  He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings “arrangements”, “harmonies” and “nocturnes”, emphasizing the importance of tonal harmony in his work.  Known for a number of striking publicity-conscious self-portraits, Oscar Wilde once said of Whistler, “Mr. Whistler always spelt art, and I believe still spells it, with a capital I”.  Whistler’s most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), commonly known as Whistler’s Mother, is a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood. It is arguably one of the most famous paintings in history and this film will unveil the artist behind the art.

Directed by David Bickerstaff and produced by Phil Grabsky, the BAFTA winning founder of Exhibition on Screen,