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Whistler was born in Massachusetts. His father, Major George Washington Whistler, who had graduated from West Point, was a civil engineer. His mother Anna McNeill came from an aristocratic southern family. When he was nine the family moved to Russia where his father was building a railroad. Six years later his father died and the family returned to America.
James himself entered West Point, but dropped out in his third year when he failed to pass a chemistry exam. He was later quoted as saying, "Had silicon been a gas I would have been a 'Major-General'."
He worked for a while as a draftsman drawing maps, but he got in trouble for drawing pictures in the margins of the maps. He finally decided to just pursue art, and in 1855 he sailed to Paris. He was to never return to America.
His first successful showing in Paris was at an exhibit of independent artists. The painting was called Symphony in White No. 2 The White Girl.
He moved to London. He began to use musical terms to name his paintings; words such as "Arrangements", "Harmonies", "Symphonies", "Nocturnes", "Notes", and "Caprices".
He studied in Venice for a year or so and made a series of etchings there. He returned to London. Some people ridiculed his work and did not take him seriously as an artist. When he was in public, he appeared to be a careless, idle person, but when he went to work in his studio, he was just the opposite.
In 1888 he married a widow, Beatrix Godwin. Eight years later she died and he was devastated. In 1903 he became ill and died.
James McNeill Whistler self-portrait 1872
The portrait of Whistler's mother was almost rejected when he first presented it, but it has become a much-loved portrait in America. It was used on a postage stamp in 1934 to commemorate Mother's Day. He called the painting An Arrangement in Grey and Black. He didn't want people to just think of it as his mother, but he wanted her to represent all aging mothers. He kept the painting in his home for many years and finally offered it to the French government for the price of 120 pounds.
( Whistler's Mother was on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts during the summer of 2006, on loan from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, France. It is appraised at about $30 million.)
Masterpiece of the Month: An Art Appreaciation Program for Grades K-5
By Jennifer Thomas / Teacher Created Resources
Students learn about artistic concepts by looking at great works of art. Follow-up art activities using crayons, chalk, tempera paint, and more reinforce learning.
Paintings by Whistler
at Olga's Place
Biography of Whistler
at Olga's Place
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
biography at Web Museum
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
from the ArtChive
Information about Whistler
at Humanities Web
James McNeill Whistler
links at Art Cyclopedia
Whistler
at Wikipedia
Whistler
from the Worldwide Art Gallery
Art History
online interactive art lesson - elementary
Recollections and Impressions of James A. McNeill Whistler
online book
Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother, 1871
Whistler, James Abbott McNeill
Buy this Art Print at AllPosters.com
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