Maxine Morse · Mar 8, 2023 · 6 mins

Filthy Lucre – The Whistler Peacock Room Spat

Updated: Mar 8

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Filthy Lucre is a free immersive installation which was on the ground floor of the V&A and tells the story of the Whistler Peacock Room. This turquoise and gold dining room that shines like a jewel box and is adorned with oriental ceramics was the subject of a nasty and bitter spat.

How the Whistler Peacock Room Argument Started

How would you feel if while you were away on business, you hired a decorator to paint your dining room and then you returned to a bill of £200,000? Mightily hacked off I suspect!

And then let’s imagine that you regained your composure, told the decorator to stop work and offered to pay him half the fee, but he then crept back into your house and painted cartoons on your wall of warring peacocks. A thinly veiled insult and admonishment of your parsimoniousness.

This story is the inspiration behind the Filthy Lucre exhibition at the V&A.

It’s hard to believe that there can be any debate about who is in the right of over this. It’s a commonly held view that the man who pays the piper calls the tune. But this is exactly what happened when Frederick Leyland hired James Abott McNeill Whistler to paint a room in his house in Kensington.

Leyland Consults a Talented but Little Known Artist

Frederick Leyland had purchased a Whistler painting which had pride of place in his dining room. At the time, Whistler was a largely unknown artist whose main claim to fame was a rather dour portrait of his mother. So when Leyland wanted to redesign the interior of his dining room in Kensington to house his collection of oriental porcelain, he felt safe in consulting the artist for his opinion on the colour scheme, without fearing a massive bill.

Leyland Gives His Design Team a Free Reign

Frederick Leyland, a successful business man, was working in Liverpool at the time and unfortunately, his project manager, Thomas Jeckyll, had became sick. This gave Whistler a free reign to do as he pleased. And this he did. He got more and more carried away with murals and embellishments and as the project progressed, he had new and better ideas which would bump up the time and the cost, until the room looked like a gleaming Aladdin’s cave.

Well, you know, 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.”

Whistler got so carried away he even painted over a 16th Century Cordoba leather wall panel that had been owned by Catherine of Aragon for which Leyland had paid £1000.

Whistler was ecstatic with the creation of the room and even wrote to Leyland telling him of the delightful surprise that would be awaiting him on his return.

Leyland Receives an Extortionate Bill

Unfortunately, the true surprise was the bill (in today’s money) for £200,000!

Leyland was incandescent with rage (probably seething more at his own stupidity for not agreeing the fee, at the outset and in black and white). Leyland offered Whistler half of this extortionate bill but instead of being pleased, Whistler regarded it as an insult to his artistic talents.

The Spat Between Artist and Patron Becomes Newspaper Gossip

The society pages of the newspapers loved the spat and reported with glee at the ongoing state of warfare between both parties.

The exhibition title Filthy Lucre reflects the bitter dispute over Leyland’s non payment of Whistler’s extortionate fee.

Whistler Gets His Revenge

Whistler in his fury and probably spurred on by the notoriety of the matter, re-entered his client’s house and delivered his final blow – a mural of two sparring peacocks on the wall – one represented Leyland adorned in gold coins, with a nasty twisted face, and the other Whistler, who was fighting for his rights. Filthy lucre indeed.

Who is to Blame in the Filthy Lucre – Whistler Peacock Room Spat?

One could say that Whistler was naive in accepting an interior design commission without agreeing the brief in writing but I think that the blame lies elsewhere. Frederick Leyland had underestimated the laziness and self serving avarice of Whistler who had become accustomed to lounging about cafes and living off his friends. In fact, in his youth he had freeloaded off a wealthy Baltimore friend Tom Winnans and used cash gifts from him to go to Paris for art training. And in Paris he met another friend, George Lucas who also financed his lifestyle.

Whistler was a man who lived his life permanently in debt and with considerable expensive vices like excessive drinking and smoking and used people for his own ends.

He had met his match with Frederick Leyland, who was not going to be taken for a ride, even if it meant that he suffered ridicule and was the brunt of society gossip…and good for him!

The V&A Filthy Lucre Installation

Darren Waterston has ingeniously reimagined the Whistler Peacock Room and added all sorts of twisted, distorted and broken features which embody the soured relationship between the two protagonists of this sorry tale. In the background, there is an eerie sound track of gossiping and torment.

I am not sure what Darren Waterstone’s budget was for Filthy Lucre but I am assuming that it was considerably less than what Whistler was trying to charge the hapless Frederick Leyland.

As you clearly like history, you may want to try a completely different kind of museum Take a look at our post on the Churchill War Rooms.

Where is the Whistler Peacock Room Now?

So what happened to the Whistler Peacock Room? The room is now revered as a fine example of Anglo-Japanese Style. It was moved lock, stock and smoking barrel to the Freer Sackler Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution in the Washington D.C.

We took photographs of the stunning V&A architecture during the pandemic when the museum was nearly empty. Please check it out.