Whistler, James MacNeill |
| PAINTER, ETCHER, WRITER (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) |
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BORN 11 Jul 1834, Lowell, Massachusetts - DIED 17 Jul 1903, London: 74 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea BIRTH NAME Whistler, James Abbott MacNeill GRAVE LOCATION London: St. Nicholas' Church, Church Street, Chiswick (Churchyard, at the Northern Wall) |
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James MacNeill Whistler was the son of the railway engineer George Washington Whistler (1800-1849) and his second wife Anna Matilda, born McNeill (1804-1881). He was a painter with a style related to impressionism as well as symbolism. Whistler spent some of his childhood years in Russia, where his father worked for Nicholas I. In 1844 the visiting artist Sir William Allen remarked to his mother that he had uncommon genius. In 1847-1848 the family visited relatives in London while his father stayed in Russia. His older sister Deborah had married the physician and artist Francis Haden and Haden gave him a watercolour set and some instructions. In 1848 Whistler was painted by Sir William Boxall. By that time Whistler wanted to be an artist. His father died from cholera in 1849 in Russia and the family moved back to Connecticut in the USA. He was supposed to pursue a career in religion but this clearly did not suit him and he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point instead. His father had taught drawing there and he was admitted despite nearsightedness and poor health. He also had a problem with authority and after three years he was discharged for 'deficiency in chemistry'. After that he worked for a while as a Navy carthographer and during this period he learned to etch. In 1855 he went to Paris, where he studied under Gleyre. He had a French girlfriend, the dressmaker Héloise. Whistler became friends with Fantin-Latour and met Courbet, by whom his early work was influenced. In 1859 he moved to London and in 1860 he exhibited at the Royal Academy. He behaved like a dandy and moved easily in society. He made friends with people like Gabriel Dante Rossetti and Oscar Wilde and it seems that Whistler was a witty as Wilde. In 1877 Ruskin attacked his "Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Flying Rocket" (now in the Detroit Institute of Arts) and although Whistler won the libel process, it resulted in his bankruptcy in 1879. He lived for a year in Venice where he made highly acclaimed etches that also helped him recover financially. On 11 Aug 1888 he married Beatrix Godwin, the widow of the architect E.W. Godwin with whom Whistler had worked in the past. She was also the daughter of the sculptor John Birnie Philip. The marriage was a success and at this time Whistler finally became more and more successful as an artist. From 1886 until 1888 he was President of the Royal Academy of British Painters and from 1898 onwards President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Engravers. His "Portrait of Thomas Carlyle" fetched 1000 guineas and his "Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother" was bought by the French state. Whistler received the Légion d'Honneur in 1892. In 1896 Beatrix died after only eight years of marriage and Whistler never really recovered from her death. He died seven years later in Chelsea. Family • Wife: Philip, Beatrix (1888-1896) Related persons • was painted by Boldini, Giovanni • influenced Brooks, Romaine • was teacher of Daudet, Lucien • was a friend of Fantin-Latour, Henri • knew Grimshaw, John Atkinson • quarreled with Haden, Francis Seymour • was a friend of Landor, Arnold Henry Savage • met Lee, Vernon • painted Leyland, Florence • painted Montesquiou-Fezensac, Robert, Comte de • knew Pellegrini, Carlo • was a friend of Rossetti, Dante Gabriel • had controversy with Ruskin, John • employed Sickert, Walter • used as a model Spartali Stillman, Marie • was a friend of Stevens, Alfred • met Veth, Jan • was a friend of Wilde, Oscar Events |
| 1/5/1877 | Opening of Grosvenor Gallery, London. It was located at 135-137 New Bond Street and it was founded by Sir Coutts Lindsay, who wanted to exhibit paintings that weren't fit for the nearby located Royal Academy. Burne-Jones, Whistler, Watts, Legros, Moore, Hubert von Herkomer, James Tissot, Millais and Holman Hunt were among those who exhibited. Rossetti refused to cooperate because work by members of the Royal Academy was exhibited as well. [Burne-Jones, Edward, 1st Baronet][Hunt, William Holman][Millais, John][Rossetti, Dante Gabriel] |
| Images | ||
 James MacNeill Whistler's grave at St. Nicholas' Churchyard, Chiswick Mall, Chiswick. Picture by androom (12 Aug 1997) |
 The grave of James MacNeill Whistler St. Nicholas' Churchyard, Chiswick Mall, Chiswick, London. Picture by Androom (14 Jun 2022) |
 "Weary". (1863, Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art) |
 'Symphony in White, No. III'. (1865-1867, Birmingham: The Barber Institute of Fine Arts) |
 'Maud standing'. (1873, Washington D.C.: National Gallery of Art) |
Sources • Sutherland, Daniel E., Whistler, A Life for Art's Sake, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2014 • Whelchel, Harriet (ed.), John Ruskin and the Victorian Eye, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1993 • Heijbroek, J.F. & M.F. MacDonald (ed.), Whistler en Holland, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1997 • Wildman, Stephen, John Christian, Edward Burne-Jones 1833-1898, Un maître anglais de l'imaginaire, Réunion des Musées Nationeaux, Paris, 1999 • WebMuseum: Whistler, James Abbott McNeill |
