Whistler

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was one of the most original artists ofhe late 19th-century. Flamboyant dandy and ebullient publicist, friend ofscar Wilde, Whistler was also a meticulous craftsman dedicated to theerfection of his art. He was born in the United States but travelled toaris to study painting. Under the influence of Courbet, he began as aealist painter, but gradually developed a startlingly original method ofomposition, refining his technique to the barest essentials. He was one ofhe first to argue that the abstract ingredients of a painting - the lines,hapes, colours and tones - could in themselves be the subject; he entitledhe portrait of his mother "Arrangement in Grey and Black".;His emphasis onelection and swiftness of execution made a shocking contrast with the art ofis day, concerned as it was with finish and elaborate literary allusions.uskin, the champion of Pre-Raphaelitism, accused him of "flinging a pot ofaint in the public's face" - a comment that promptly inspired the famousawsuit which left Whistler victorious but bankrupt. Whistler was one of theSpalding, Frances is the author of 'Whistler', published 1994 under ISBN 9780714831862 and ISBN 0714831867.