Art

James McNeill Whistler

1834–1903 · American

Aestheticism / Tonalism

American-born painter and etcher, active mainly in London and Paris, and a leading voice of 'art for art's sake'. He gave his works musical titles such as Nocturne, Symphony and Arrangement, and famously sued John Ruskin for libel.

How to spot them

▸Musical titles: Nocturne, Symphony, Harmony, Arrangement plus colours
▸Hazy, near-monochrome river scenes of the Thames at dusk or night
▸Restricted tonal palettes of greys, blacks, blues or whites
▸A stylised butterfly monogram used as his signature

Key works

Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (1861–1862)

National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Joanna Hiffernan in white on a wolf skin; shown at the 1863 Salon des Refusés

Image: James McNeill Whistler · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (Whistler's Mother) (1871)

Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Anna McNeill Whistler seated in profile; an American icon owned by France

Image: James McNeill Whistler · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge (c. 1872–1875)

Tate Britain, London

Looming bridge pier over the misty Thames at night; produced at the Ruskin trial

Image: James McNeill Whistler · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (c. 1875)

Detroit Institute of Arts

Fireworks at Cremorne Gardens; the picture Ruskin attacked

Image: James McNeill Whistler · Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room (1876–1877)

Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.

Dining room painted for Frederick Leyland, with fighting gold peacocks

Image: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M Sackler Gallery · CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

Quick-fire facts

•Born in Lowell, Massachusetts; spent part of his childhood in St Petersburg, Russia
•Was dismissed from the US Military Academy at West Point after failing chemistry
•Ruskin accused him of 'flinging a pot of paint in the public's face'
•Won his 1878 libel case against Ruskin but was awarded only a farthing, and was bankrupt by 1879
•The French state bought Whistler's Mother in 1891
•Published The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1890) and gave the 'Ten O'Clock' lecture (1885)
•Traded famous barbs with Oscar Wilde

Drill it — 10 cards

1 / 10new card

Sources

Encyclopaedia Britannica — James McNeill Whistler
Tate — Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge