Chapter 5

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Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room
Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room
A beautifully designed room, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, decorated by James McNeill Whistler, is an extravagant site to be seen.


Peacock Room - Door Detail
Originally designed by Thomas Jeckyll for Frederick Leyland, the rooms purpose was to showcase Leyland's blue and white Chinese porcelain collection in his London home. Unhappy with Jeckyll's work, Leyland asked James McNeill Whistler, who was already working on another part of his home, to make minor changes.  In 1876 Whistler decorated the room from the sheer inspiration of the delicate patterns and vivid colors of the Leyland's collection. Letting his imagination run wild, Whistler "...I just painted on. I went on–without design or sketch–putting in every touch with such freedom...And the harmony in blue and gold developing, you know, I forgot everything in my joy of it."

When Leyland returned from his trip to Liverpool he was shocked to discover what Whistler had done to the room, and when quarrels ensued, they ended their relationship. "At one point, Whistler gained access to Leyland's home and painted two fighting peacocks meant to represent the artist and his patron; one holds a paint brush and the other holds a bag of money."

In 1904 Charles Lang Freer purchased the entire room and installed it in his Detroit mansion. After his death in 1919 the Peacock Room was then moved to the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., opening to the public in 1923.

Peacock Room - Peacock Detail
Whistler made many changes to the room, despite Leyland's assumptions that he would make minor changes. The ceiling was covered in either Dutch metal or illuminated gold leaf and painted over with a pattern of peacock feathers. The walnut shelving in the room was gilded and the shutters were embellished with four plumed peacocks. After the argument between Leyland and Whistler, the artist decided to "do some more work." He coated a valuable leather with Prussian blue paint and added a pair of peacocks, highlighted in gold and silver, confronting each other on the wall opposite The Princess. The final touch was a blue rug that completed the "blue and gold" room.






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