Details

Name

James McNeill Whistler

Brief Biography

1834–1903, American/British

Occupation

Painter

Description

Whistler was born in the USA, his father being Major George Whistler, a railway engineer. At the age of nine was taken to Russia by his father, who was engaged to superintend the construction of the St Petersburgh (Leningrad) and Moscow Railway. Three years later, on the death of his father, Whistler returned with his mother to America. In 1851 he studied at West Point Military Academy, but, forsaking the profession of arms for that of art, in 1856 entered the studio of Marc Charles Gabriel Gleyre, in Paris. There he had for fellow-students Degas, Bracquemond, Fantin-Latour, and others, who were afterwards to take a prominent position in modern French painting.
He first visited England in 1855, and settled in Chelsea in 1859. His first works, chiefly illustrative of the scenery of the Thames, were shown in the RA exhibition of 1860–72. About 1872 he produced his two most famous works. his 'Portrait of Mother', now in the Museé d’Orsay, Paris, and his 'Portrait of Thomas Carlyle', in Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow. In later years, he ceased contributing to the RA, but was a frequent exhibitor at the Paris Salon. He was elected a member of the RBA in 1884, becoming president two years later. In addition to painting, Whistler produced many etchings, which are considered worthy to rank with those of the greatest masters. He exercised a considerable influence on the art of his time, more especially on the younger members of the profession. He had also a decided literary gift and was the author of several volumes notable for caustic wit and seathing epigram.