James McNeill Whistler
1834 – 1903
Nocturnes, harmonies and the etched river - the art of James McNeill Whistler
About James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was born on July 10, 1834, in Lowell, Massachusetts, the first child of the railway engineer George Washington Whistler and Anna McNeill Whistler. He later preferred to disown the mill town altogether - "I shall be born when and where I want, and I do not choose to be born in Lowell," he declared during his libel action against John Ruskin - and the cosmopolitan childhood that followed gave him some…
Read full biography →From the Collection
Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl
1861
Harmony in Yellow and Gold: The Gold Girl—Connie Gilchrist
1876
Arrangement in Black, No. 3: Sir Henry Irving as Philip II…
1876
Arrangement in Flesh Colour and Black: Portrait of Theodore…
1883
Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian
1888
Black Lion Wharf
1859
Notable Works
Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl
Joanna Hiffernan, dressed in white and holding a lily before a white curtain, is the subject of in Whistler's first great exercise in tonal painting. Rejected by the Royal Academy in 1862, it was…
Browse the collection →Wapping
Begun in 1860 and finished in 1864, this canvas sets Joanna Hiffernan and companions on a tavern balcony above the crowded Thames at Wapping, the riverside district Whistler was also etching at the time.
Browse the collection →Grey and Silver: Chelsea Wharf
A quiet view of the Chelsea waterfront painted in close greys and silvers, an early sign of the restrained colour harmonies that would lead to the nocturnes.
Browse the collection →Timeline
Born July 10 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the first child of George Washington Whistler and Anna McNeill Whistler
Joins his father in St. Petersburg (winter 1842-43), where Nicholas I had engaged him to design a railway; later enrolls at the Imperial Academy of Arts
Enters the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in July; dismissed after three years
Works as a draftsman for the U.S. Coast Survey and learns to etch
Arrives in Paris and studies in the atelier of Charles Gleyre
"No. I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime."
— James McNeill Whistler