James Abbot McNeill Whistler

American Realist

Whistler1834 –1903

• The Thames in Ice. 1860. Oil on canvas. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA.

Whistler was a major influence on the Impressionist movement, for his brushwork, which is loose, strong and spontaneous, but also because of his compositions, which were influenced by the Japanese and Realism, instead of the solid, Republican Neo-Classicists, or the sentimental Romantics.

Whistler1834 –1903

• Variations in Flesh Color and Green: The Balcony. 1864-70. Oil on wood. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA.

• This painting was created after Whistler viewed Japanese prints, which were very popular at the time in Europe.

• Japanese prints were used like souvenir postcards of journeys also embody the spirit of Japanese country, landscapes, and seasons. They show all social classes and show both nature and human nature.

Whistler

Rose and Silver, or The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, 1863-64, Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

Japanese woodblock prints (below) mixed the strong lines of woodblock with a soft, almost brushlike quality in the inks.

Whistler1834 –1903

• Averse to sentimentality in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake, which means the art - brushwork, color, line, are more important than the subject matter.

• Finding a parallel between painting and music, Whistler titled many of his works 'harmonies' and 'arrangements'.

• Symphony in Flesh Color and Pink: Portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland. 1871-3. Oil on canvas. The Frick Collection, New York, USA.

Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother (1871) popularly known as Whistler's Mother.

Whistler is best known for this nearly monochromatic full-length figure. The painting was purchased by the French government and is housed in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. He insisted this was an arrangement of shapes, color and values, not a portrait, and that it could be anyone, any thing portrayed, not a particular person.

Whistler

• Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle, 1872-73, Glasgow Museum and Art Gallery

Falling Rocket1875

Detroit Institute of Arts

Whistler was ridiculed publicly for this painting, so he sued for libel. He won the suit, but the jury awarded him only

20 guineas, which was an insult.

Nocturne, Blue and Silver, also known as Chelsea, 1871, Tate Gallery, LondonWhile the Impressionists raved about his work, the public was appalled at the loose, easy brushwork. Some said it was done too quickly, and was not finished.