Whistler's Thames at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Blue and Gold, Old Battersea Bridge

I learned at the private view of Whistler and the Thames at Dulwich Picture Gallery that planning for this show with the Addison Gallery of American Art began before the banking crisis in 2008, the subsequent uncertainties meaning that it has only now come to fruition. It is certainly worth the wait, though not perhaps for the obvious reasons. The surprise of the show is that a good proportion of the exhibits are not paintings but etchings, and these are of a very high standard - at the time, Whistler was not unjustifiably compared to Rembrandt. But the main success of the show has to be how it emphasises Whistler's links with the Thames; American-born, Russian-educated, Paris-trained, Whistler is quintessentially multicultural, but nevertheless he spent most of his life living by the Thames and a great deal of his art engages with what he saw from his window every day. This show (and its catalogue) tells you as much about the Thames as about Whistler.

The course of Whistler's artistic development is well presented - from realism influenced by Manet and Courbet to a more impressionistic style which is almost abstract at times, and his enthusiasm for Japanese art. Whistler is perhaps seen as rather lightweight in this country - this show should go some way to raising his profile.

Incidentally, the house in Cheyne Walk where Whistler painted the famous portrait of his mother - Arrangement in gray and black No. 1 - is up for sale. Its high price (around £30m) means it's likely to go to an overseas buyer, but given Whistler's Russian connections a Russian oligarch would actually be quite appropriate.