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James Abbott McNeill Whistler

1834–1903

Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea 1871
In Tate Britain

Historic and Modern British Art

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Rooms

2 artworks by James Abbott McNeill Whistler
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Biography

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake".

His signature for his paintings took the shape of a stylized butterfly with an added long stinger for a tail. The symbol combined both aspects of his personality: his art is marked by a subtle delicacy, while his public persona was combative. He found a parallel between painting and music, and entitled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies", and "nocturnes", emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony. His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), commonly known as Whistler's Mother, is a revered and often parodied portrait of motherhood. Whistler influenced the art world and the broader culture of his time with his aesthetic theories and his friendships with other leading artists and writers.

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Aesthetic movement British impressionism

Artworks

Left Right
  • Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    ³¦.1872–5
  • Black Lion Wharf

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    1859
    View by appointment
  • Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    1864
  • Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    1875
  • Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    1872
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • Count Burckhardt

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    published 1862
    View by appointment
  • Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    1872–4
    On display at Tate Britain part of Historic and Modern British Art
  • Crepuscule in Flesh Colour and Green: Valparaiso

    James Abbott McNeill Whistler
    1866
See all 11

Artist as subject

  • Blue China

    Sir Max Beerbohm
    1916
  • James McNeill Whistler

    Sir William Nicholson
    1899
    View by appointment
  • Whistler

    Gary Hume
    1998

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