First Lady Melania Trump authorized an “exceptionally rare international loan” from the White House Collection, the White House said.
The piece of art, James McNeill Whistler’s Nocturne, will be “removed from the Treaty Room and included in a comprehensive exhibition devoted to the great American painter by Tate Britain and the Van Gogh Museum,” the statement explained. The two museums are developing the first full-career exhibition dedicated to James McNeill Whistler in Europe in decades. The loan to Tate Britain and the Van Gogh Museum has been described as an “exceptionally rare international loan,” as the art is usually only shared with select U.S. institutions, such as the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art.
The painting will be returned to the White House Collection in summer 2027.
“It is with great honor that I share Whistler’s masterpiece, Nocturne, to be enjoyed by art lovers all over the world,” asserted First Lady Melania Trump. “It is important for the international art community to experience America’s extraordinary wealth of talent in fine art. Certainly, Mr. Whistler is one of America’s greatest.”
Mrs. Trump was also involved with art during President Trump’s first term, having facilitated an art exhibit honoring the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.
“As we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, it’s important to include our children in the conversation so they can learn and understand the history behind the women’s suffrage movement,” she said in 2020. “For decades, women leaders lobbied, marched, and protested for equality and their right to vote in the United States. It is my hope that this project will both support and expand the important conversations taking place on equality and the impact of peaceful protests, while encouraging children to engage in the history behind this consequential movement in their own home state.”
The art project took submissions from students in grades 3-12.
