James McNeill Whistler
American, 1834–1903
Born in Lowell, Massachusetts; died in London.
Whistler spent part of his boyhood in Russia, left West Point without graduating and trained as a painter in Paris before settling in London in 1859. He held that a picture was an arrangement of colour and form, and named his works symphonies, harmonies and nocturnes; a hostile review of one nocturne led to his 1878 libel suit against John Ruskin. He was equally committed to etching, and in his Venice plates of 1879–80 he left films of ink on the copper to suggest water and dusk.
Written by Ochre Editions.
- In the collection
- 19 worksDated 1858–1901
- Mostly
- Painting, Prints, Drawing and Watercolor
- Movement
- RealismOrdinary people and working lives, painted as they were, from the 1840s on.
The works
