James McNeill Whistler
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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James Abbott McNeill Whistler (July 11, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American-born, British-based painter and etcher. Averse to sentimentality in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". Whistler's art was characterized by a subtle delicacy, in contrast to his combative public persona. He is best remembered for his precursor to abstract art, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket.
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Career
Portrait of the Artist's Mother
Whistler is best known for the nearly monochromatic full-length figure titled Arrangement in Gray and Black: Portrait of the Artist's Mother, but usually referred to as Whistler's Mother. The painting was later purchased by the French government. Though American, Whistler lived and worked mainly in Britain and France.
The White Girl
Whistler's painting The White Girl (1862) caused controversy when exhibited in London and, later, at the Salon des Refusés in Paris. The painting epitomizes his theory that art should essentially be concerned with the beautiful arrangement of colors in harmony, not with the accurate portrayal of the natural world.
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket
In 1878 Whistler sued the critic John Ruskin for libel after the critic condemned his painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket. Whistler won the case but the trial bankrupted him.