Art Institute of Chicago

Invitation to Mr. Whistler's "Ten O'clock"

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1885

Medium

Engraving in black with additions in pen and black ink and watercolor on tan card, with metal grommet

Culture

United States

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

On February 20, 1885, Whistler delivered the “Ten O’Clock,” an hour-long public lecture on art, to an audience composed of fashionable Londoners including artists, dealers, and members of the press. He chose the unconventional time—two hours later than most evening events—to ensure a crowd, and he enlisted the services of the theatrical producer Richard D’Oyly Carte and Carte’s manager, Helen Lenoir, to secure the venue in Piccadilly, promote the event, and sell tickets. The lecture was well received by the audience and was mostly well reviewed in the press the next day. This professionally engraved invitation—with touches of hand coloring on the butterfly emblem—is actually more of an announcement, given that “invitees” paid to attend the lecture.

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