James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American artist primarily based in the United Kingdom. His birthplace in Massachusetts is today a museum dedicated to him. His father was a talented driver and the family moved to Saint Petersburg in 1842 for a good job offer. Whistler suffered from sudden fits of ague, fits of illness, and periods of extreme fatigue as a child - drawing helped him to stay alert. He got private art lessons and attended the Russian Academy of Art at the age of eleven. In 1844 he met the Scottish painter Sir William Allan, who called him a "rare genius". His brother-in-law, surgeon and painter
Sir Francis Seymour Haden , inspired him to a career in painting and gave him his first set of watercolors. After the father's death, the family returned to the US and Whistler applied to the United States Military Academy, where he became known more for his sarcastic comments and distaste for authority. However, he learned there cartography, which helped him to his first job: pattern illustrator for military and maritime purposes.
In 1855 he traveled to Paris and studied there briefly, but he preferred to study and copy works of art in the Louvre. There he met the French painter Henri
Henri Fantin -Latour , who in turn introduced him to
Gustave Courbet , leader of the realism movement, and its circle. Among them were
Charles Baudelaire , whose theories strongly influenced Whistler, and Théophile Gautier, who inspired him to see music in art. Many of his works have names like "arrangements", "harmonies" and "nocturnes". His most famous works include "Arrangement in Gray and Black no. 1 ", better known as" Whistler's Mother ", exhibited at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. At that time the work was received negatively because of lack of sentimentality. Whistler is generally regarded as averse to sentimentality and moral allusions in paintings; he is an advocate of the "art of art's sake." The artist was also particularly interested in Asian art, he studied ceramics and this is how his characteristic signature, reminiscent of a butterfly, was created.
After the death of his mother in 1881, he took his maiden name as a second name. He became a member, and later President, the "Society of British Artists," even Queen Victoria expressed her admiration for the artist's illustrations. He made further important friendships with
Monet ,
Rodin and
Toulouse-Lautrec . All in all, he counts as the inspiration of several generations of artists in Europe and the USA and had a lively exchange with Impressionists, Realists and Symbolists.
© Meisterdrucke
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.jpg "Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 (Portrait of the Artists Mother) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket, 1875 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
 - (MeisterDrucke-249945).jpg "Nude Figure Reclining, c.1885-88 (etching on paper) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Black Lion Wharf by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "The Palaces from The First Venice Set, 1879-1880 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Purple and Rose- The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Nocturne- Blue and Silver by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
 (see also 88677) - (MeisterDrucke-151305).jpg "Symphony in White, No. III, 1865-67 (including frame) (see also 88677) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Nocturne: Palaces by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Reading by Lamplight, 1858 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room, 1860 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Green and Gold: The Storyteller, c.1896-1900 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
 (see also 106898) - (MeisterDrucke-205236).jpg "Symphony in White, No. III, 1865-7 (without frame) (see also 106898) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Chapel Doorway, Montresor, 1888 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Upright Venice, from the Twenty-Six Etchings, also known as the Second Venice Set by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Nocturne: Grey and Silver - Chelsea Embankment, Winter, c.1879 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Ingres Roger Deliverant Angelique, 1857 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
.jpg "Upright Venice, 1879-80 by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
 - (MeisterDrucke-205754).jpg "The Dutchman holding a glass, c.1857 (etching on paper) by James Abbott McNeill Whistler")
