With Deep Colby Connections, a Whistler Retrospective is a ‘Luscious, Seductive Blockbuster'

Bob Keyes, Colby News, June 12, 2026

As it often does, the love affair started with a beautiful picture.

During the early stages of building their art collection, Peter and Paula Lunder had the opportunity to purchase the oil painting Chelsea in Ice by James McNeill Whistler during an auction. In the atmospheric painting, Whistler captures a frigid day on the River Thames in London, emphasizing the gray and white tones of the icy water and distant factories.

“There were just a couple of bids, and Peter said, ‘That’s a beautiful painting. Let’s buy it.’ And we did,” Paula Lunder recalled. “We had been collecting art before then, but with that painting, we took a step up. Way up. It meant that we were buying things that were recognized.”