James Abbott McNeill Whistler
(American, 1834–1903)
Biography
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was a seminal American artist known for his paintings and etchings. His iconic Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), also known as Whistler’s Mother, is one of the most famous portraits of the 19th century. He painted in a style which emphasized layers of wet paint, gradually building tonal contrasts much like his contemporary Édouard Manet. “Paint should not be applied thick. It should be like a breath on the surface of a pane of glass,” he once advised. Born on July 10, 1834 in Lowell, MA, he and his family moved to St. Petersburg, Russia in 1842 for his father’s job as a railway engineer. Whistler studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts at only 11 years old, returning to the United States with his mother after his father’s death in 1849. He briefly attended the United State Military Academy at West Point before being dismissed for disobedience and poor grades. Arriving in Paris in 1855, with little money and few prospects, he fell into the milieu of Henri Fantin-Latour, Gustave Courbet, and Charles Baudelaire. Over the following decades his work become increasingly sought after, living between London and Paris, Whistler produced several depictions of the River Thames and fell under the influence of Japanese woodcuts. The artist infamously sued the British art critic John Ruskin in 1877, who scathingly attacked Whistler’s painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (c. 1875) in a review. He died on July 17, 1903 in London, United Kingdom. Today, his works are held in the collections of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.
Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction
Harmony in grey - Chelsea in ice, 1864 - 1864
Sold price: 2,866,000 USD
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Artworks
.jpg "Nocturne furnace (from The second..., 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Nocturne furnace (from The second..., 1879–1880
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "The garden (from The second Venice set), 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The garden (from The second Venice set), 1879–1880
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "The doorway (from The first Venice set), 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The doorway (from The first Venice set), 1879–1880
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "The mast (from The first Venice set), 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The mast (from The first Venice set), 1879–1880
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "The riva, no. 2 (from The second Venice , 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The riva, no. 2 (from The second Venice , 1879–1880
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "Upright Venice (from The second Venice..., 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Upright Venice (from The second Venice..., 1879–1880
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "Rotherhithe (+ The pool, smllr; 2 works), 1860")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Rotherhithe (+ The pool, smllr; 2 works), 1860
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "Greenwich Park (+ Landscape with horse; 2..., 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Greenwich Park (+ Landscape with horse; 2..., 1859
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "Annie seated (+ 2 others, various sizes; 3..., 1858")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Annie seated (+ 2 others, various sizes; 3..., 1858
Sale Date: September 21, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "The menpes children (from Whistler as I knew , 1900")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The menpes children (from Whistler as I knew , 1900
Sale Date: September 12, 2011
Auction Closed
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Nursemaids: Les bonnes du Luxembourg, 1894
Sale Date: September 12, 2011
Auction Closed
).jpg "Thames warehouses (+ Old Westminster Bridge; , 1959")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Thames warehouses (+ Old Westminster Bridge; , 1959
Sale Date: September 9, 2011
Auction Closed
.jpg "La vielle aux loques (The rag gatherer), 1858")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
La vielle aux loques (The rag gatherer), 1858
Sale Date: August 28, 2011
Auction Closed
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