Wheelwright (1879)

James McNeill Whistler prints are quiet, subtle and endlessly elegant. Whistler was an American painter and printmaker, based mostly in London, who championed "art for art's sake" and gave his paintings musical titles such as nocturnes, symphonies and arrangements. This collection gathers art prints of his misty Thames nocturnes, portraits in white and gray, and his celebrated etchings of London, Paris, Amsterdam and Venice.

About James Abbott McNeill Whistler

James Abbott Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on 10 July 1834, the son of a railroad engineer. He later added his mother's maiden name, McNeill, to his own. He attended West Point, where he learned drawing and mapmaking, but was dismissed, and then worked briefly in the etching division of the US Coast Survey, where he learned the technique that became central to his career.

In 1855 he left for Paris to study art, spending time in the studio of Charles Gleyre and producing his first set of etchings, the French Set. Settling in London, he made the Thames Set in 1860, and in 1863 his Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl caused a stir at the Salon des Refusés in Paris.

In the 1870s he painted his famous nocturnes and decorated the Peacock Room for his patron Frederick Leyland. In 1878 he sued the critic John Ruskin for libel over a review of a nocturne and won, but was awarded only a farthing in damages; the costs left him bankrupt in 1879. A stay in Venice that followed produced over fifty etchings and some hundred pastels. In 1888 he married Beatrice Godwin. He died in London on 17 July 1903.

Style and Subjects

Whistler saw painting as close to music. He arranged a few closely related colors into soft harmonies, often grays, blues, blacks and whites, and gave his pictures titles like "Nocturne" and "Symphony" to stress mood over storytelling. His night views of the Thames reduce bridges and lights to hazy shapes in a blue mist.

His portraits are equally restrained, with figures standing in muted, shadowy spaces. Japanese art influenced his flat compositions and decorative touches, and he used a stylized butterfly as his signature. As a printmaker he was one of the finest etchers of his age, catching the canals of Venice and the backstreets of London in a few delicate lines.

Famous Works

• Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl (1862), National Gallery of Art, Washington. A young woman in white standing on a wolf skin, shown at the Salon des Refusés in 1863.
• The Princess from the Land of Porcelain (1864), Freer Gallery of Art, Washington. A woman in a kimono among Asian objects, later the centerpiece of the Peacock Room.
• Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (Whistler's Mother) (1871), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. His mother seated in profile, his most famous painting.
• Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Chelsea (1871), Tate, London. The Thames at dusk dissolved into soft blue.
• Nocturne: Blue and Gold – Old Battersea Bridge (1872), Tate, London. The old wooden bridge looming over the river at night.
• Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle (1873), Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow. The Scottish writer in a pose echoing Whistler's Mother.
• Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (1875), Detroit Institute of Arts. The fireworks painting that led to the Ruskin libel case.
• The Peacock Room (1876–1877), Freer Gallery of Art, Washington. A dining room painted with golden peacocks for Frederick Leyland.

Decorating with Whistler Prints

Whistler's nocturnes are perfect for bedrooms, bathrooms and quiet living rooms. Their soft blues and grays create a calm mood and look elegant in thin black, silver or dark wood frames.

His etchings of Venice, London and Amsterdam make a refined gallery wall for a hallway, study or library. The portraits suit a dining room or entrance hall, and The Princess from the Land of Porcelain adds a touch of Japanese-inspired color to a sitting room.

FAQ

What art movement was Whistler part of?

Whistler was a leading figure of Aestheticism, the "art for art's sake" movement, and his work is also linked with Tonalism and Symbolism. He influenced many American painters, including John Singer Sargent and William Merritt Chase.

What is Whistler's most famous painting?

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), known as Whistler's Mother, is his best-known work. It was bought by the French government and is now in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Where can I see Whistler's original work?

The Freer Gallery of Art in Washington holds the Peacock Room and a large Whistler collection. Other major works are at the Musée d'Orsay, Tate Britain, the National Gallery of Art, the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Hunterian in Glasgow. His birthplace in Lowell is now the Whistler House Museum of Art.

How can you recognize a Whistler painting?

Look for a narrow range of soft, harmonious colors, especially grays and blues, simple compositions, misty atmosphere and musical titles such as "Nocturne" or "Arrangement". Many works carry his butterfly signature.

What was the Whistler v. Ruskin trial?

In 1877 the critic John Ruskin attacked Whistler's painting The Falling Rocket in print, and Whistler sued him for libel. Whistler won in 1878 but was awarded only a farthing, and the legal costs helped bankrupt him in 1879.

Related Artists

• Henri Fantin-Latour — friend from his early years in Paris
• Gustave Courbet — French Realist who influenced and painted alongside him
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti — Pre-Raphaelite friend and Chelsea neighbor
• Albert Joseph Moore — fellow Aesthetic movement painter
• Walter Sickert — his pupil and studio assistant in London