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
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
BEBES, LUXEMBOURG GARDENS, 1890
Sale Date: November 5, 1991
Auction Closed
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Sale Date: November 5, 1991
Auction Closed
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Sale Date: November 5, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "DROUET (KENNEDY, MANSFIELD 55), 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
DROUET (KENNEDY, MANSFIELD 55), 1859
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
VAUXHALL BRIDGE; EARLY MORNING,..., 1861–1879
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "ADAM AND EVE, OLD CHELSEA (KENNEDY 175;..., 1879")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
ADAM AND EVE, OLD CHELSEA (KENNEDY 175;..., 1879
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "SOUPE A TROIS SOUS (KENNEDY, MANSFIELD 49), 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
SOUPE A TROIS SOUS (KENNEDY, MANSFIELD 49), 1859
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
,-(kennedy-41;-----mansfield-40;-and-k.-44;-m.-43).jpg "EAGLE WHARF; THAMES POLICE (15 X 22.1 CM),..., 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
EAGLE WHARF; THAMES POLICE (15 X 22.1 CM),..., 1859
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "DORDRECHT (KENNEDY 242; MANSFIELD 239), 1884")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
DORDRECHT (KENNEDY 242; MANSFIELD 239), 1884
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
,-plus-print-by.jpg "LA MARCHANDE DE MOUTARDE; THE RAG GATHERERS..., 1858")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
LA MARCHANDE DE MOUTARDE; THE RAG GATHERERS..., 1858
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
,-(kennedy-40;-------mansfield-39-and-k.-41;-m.-39).jpg "LIMEHOUSE; EAGLE WHARF (13.6 X 21.4 CM),..., 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
LIMEHOUSE; EAGLE WHARF (13.6 X 21.4 CM),..., 1859
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "The beggars (KENNEDY 194; MANSFIELD 191), 1879–1880")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The beggars (KENNEDY 194; MANSFIELD 191), 1879–1880
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
,-------(way-22-and-40;-levy-35-and-66).jpg "CHELSEA RAGS; THE MARKET PLACE, VITRE..., 1888–1893")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
CHELSEA RAGS; THE MARKET PLACE, VITRE..., 1888–1893
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "LA MERE MALADE; AFTERNOON TEA (THE..., 1893–1895")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
LA MERE MALADE; AFTERNOON TEA (THE..., 1893–1895
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "LANDSCAPE WITH THE HORSE (KENNEDY 36;..., 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
LANDSCAPE WITH THE HORSE (KENNEDY 36;..., 1859
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
,-(kennedy,-mansfield-52-and55).jpg "BECQUET; DROUET (22.7 X 15.3 CM), (KENNEDY,..., 1859")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
BECQUET; DROUET (22.7 X 15.3 CM), (KENNEDY,..., 1859
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
THE FORGE: PASSAGE DU DRAGON; STUDY NO. , 1894–1896
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
.jpg "The blacksmith (WAY 90; LEVY 128), 1895")
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
The blacksmith (WAY 90; LEVY 128), 1895
Sale Date: October 31, 1991
Auction Closed
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