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 "THE FORGE (KENNEDY 68), 1861")
.jpg "THE LIME-BURNER (KENNEDY 46), 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
THE LIME-BURNER (KENNEDY 46), 1859
Sale Date: May 12, 1992
Auction Closed
.jpg "DROUET (KENNEDY 55), 1859")
.jpg "OLD HUNGERFORD BRIDGE (KENNEDY 76), 1861")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
OLD HUNGERFORD BRIDGE (KENNEDY 76), 1861
Sale Date: May 12, 1992
Auction Closed
.jpg "LONG VENICE (KENNEDY 212), 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
LONG VENICE (KENNEDY 212), 1879–1880
Sale Date: May 12, 1992
Auction Closed
.jpg "GANTS DE SUEDE (LEVY 40), 1890")
-(kennedy-89);-the-forge-(1861)-(k.-68);firelight:-joseph-pennell-(1896),-litho.jpg "CHELSEA WHARF (1863) (KENNEDY 89); THE..., 1861–1896")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
CHELSEA WHARF (1863) (KENNEDY 89); THE..., 1861–1896
Sale Date: May 12, 1992
Auction Closed
.jpg "LITTLE VENICE (KENNEDY 183), 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
LITTLE VENICE (KENNEDY 183), 1879–1880
Sale Date: May 12, 1992
Auction Closed
.jpg "BEAD-STRINGERS (KENNEDY 198), 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
BEAD-STRINGERS (KENNEDY 198), 1879–1880
Sale Date: May 12, 1992
Auction Closed
.jpg "LITTLE ARTHUR (K.9)")
.jpg "THE FORGE (KENNEDY 68), 1861")
.jpg "FUMETTE (KENNEDY 13), 1858")
.jpg "FULHAM (KENNEDY 182), 1879")
.jpg "THE TINY POOL (KENNEDY 173.III)")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
THE TINY POOL (KENNEDY 173.III)
Sale Date: March 21, 1992
Auction Closed
.jpg "THE FORGE (KENNEDY 68 IV/IV), 1861")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
THE FORGE (KENNEDY 68 IV/IV), 1861
Sale Date: March 21, 1992
Auction Closed
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