James Abbott McNeill Whistler (July 11, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo, "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail. The symbol was apt, for it combined both aspects of his personality—his art was characterized by a subtle delicacy, while his public persona was combative. Finding a parallel between painting and music, Whistler entitled many of his paintings "arrangements", "harmonies", and "nocturnes", emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony. His most famous painting is Whistler's Mother (1871), the revered and oft parodied portrait of motherhood. Whistler influenced the art world and the broader culture of his time with his artistic theories and his friendships with leading artists and writers.
Read more about James Abbott McNeill Whistler: Early Life, Early Career, Later Years, Personal Relationships, Legacy, Honors, Auction Records
Famous quotes containing the words mcneill whistler, james, abbott, mcneill and/or whistler:
“Ruskin’s counsel: The labour of two days ... is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?
Whistler: No: I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.”
—James Mcneill Whistler (1834–1903)
“If we remembered everything, we should on most occasions be as ill off as if we remembered nothing. It would take us as long to recall a space of time as it took the original time to elapse, and we should never get ahead with our thinking. All recollected times undergo, accordingly, what M. Ribot calls foreshortening; and this foreshortening is due to the omission of an enormous number of facts which filled them.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“It’s all sorts of middle-aged white men in suits—forests of middle-aged men in dark suits. All slightly red-faced from eating and drinking too much.”
—Diane Abbott (b. 1953)
“Ruskin’s counsel: The labour of two days ... is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?
Whistler: No: I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.”
—James Mcneill Whistler (1834–1903)
“Mr. Whistler always spelt art, and we believe still spells it, with a capital “I.””
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)