James Abbott McNeill Whistler RBA ( / w ɪ s l ər / ; 11 julio 1834 a 17 julio 1903) fue un artista estadounidense activo durante la American dorado de la edad y basado principalmente en el Reino Unido. Evitó el sentimentalismo y la alusión moral en la pintura y fue uno de los principales defensores del credo "el arte por el arte ". Su firma para sus pinturas tomó la forma de una mariposa estilizada que posee un aguijón largo por cola. [1]El símbolo combinaba ambos aspectos de su personalidad: su arte está marcado por una delicadeza sutil, mientras que su personalidad pública era combativa. Encontró un paralelo entre la pintura y la música, y tituló muchas de sus pinturas "arreglos", "armonías" y "nocturnos" , enfatizando la primacía de la armonía tonal. [2] Su pintura más famosa, Arreglo en gris y negro No. 1 (1871), comúnmente conocida como La madre de Whistler , es un retrato venerado ya menudo parodiado de la maternidad. Whistler influyó en el mundo del arte y la cultura más amplia de su tiempo con sus teorías y sus amistades con otros artistas y escritores destacados. [3]
James Abbott McNeill Whistler | |
---|---|
Nació | James Abbott Whistler 11 de julio de 1834 Lowell, Massachusetts , Estados Unidos |
Fallecido | 17 de julio de 1903 Londres, inglaterra, reino unido | (69 años)
Nacionalidad | americano |
Educación | Academia Militar de los Estados Unidos, West Point, Nueva York |
Conocido por | Cuadro |
Trabajo notable | Madre de Whistler |
Movimiento | Fundador del tonalismo |
Premios |
|
Vida temprana
Nueva Inglaterra
James Abbott Whistler nació en Lowell, Massachusetts el 11 de julio de 1834, [4] [5] [6] el primer hijo de Anna McNeill Whistler y George Washington Whistler , y el hermano del cirujano confederado Dr. William McNeill Whistler . Su padre era ingeniero de ferrocarriles y Anna fue su segunda esposa. James vivió los primeros tres años de su vida en una casa modesta en 243 Worthen Street en Lowell. [7] La casa es ahora el Museo de Arte Whistler House , un museo dedicado a él. [8] Afirmó que San Petersburgo, Rusia, fue su lugar de nacimiento durante el juicio de Ruskin: "Naceré cuando y donde quiera, y no elijo nacer en Lowell". [9]
La familia se mudó de Lowell a Stonington, Connecticut en 1837, donde su padre trabajaba para Stonington Railroad. Tres de los hijos de la pareja murieron en la infancia durante este período. [7] Su fortuna mejoró considerablemente en 1839 cuando su padre se convirtió en ingeniero jefe del ferrocarril de Boston & Albany , [10] y la familia construyó una mansión en Springfield, Massachusetts , donde ahora se encuentra el Museo de Historia de Wood . Vivieron en Springfield hasta que dejaron los Estados Unidos a finales de 1842. [11] Nicolás I de Rusia se enteró del ingenio de George Whistler en la ingeniería del ferrocarril de Boston y Albany, y le ofreció un puesto en 1842 como ingeniería de un ferrocarril desde San Petersburgo a Moscú, y la familia se trasladó a San Petersburgo en el invierno de 1842/43. [12]
Whistler era un niño de mal humor propenso a ataques de mal genio e insolencia, y con frecuencia caía en períodos de pereza después de episodios de enfermedad. Sus padres descubrieron que dibujar a menudo lo tranquilizaba y ayudaba a enfocar su atención. [13] En años posteriores, jugó con la conexión de su madre con el sur de Estados Unidos y sus raíces, y se presentó como un aristócrata sureño empobrecido, aunque no está claro hasta qué punto simpatizaba realmente con la causa sureña durante la Guerra Civil Estadounidense. . Adoptó el apellido de soltera de su madre después de su muerte, usándolo como segundo nombre adicional. [12]
Rusia e Inglaterra
A partir de 1842, su padre fue contratado para trabajar en un ferrocarril en Rusia. Después de mudarse a San Petersburgo para reunirse con su padre un año después, el joven Whistler tomó lecciones privadas de arte y luego se inscribió en la Academia Imperial de las Artes a los once años. [9] El joven artista siguió el plan de estudios tradicional de dibujo a partir de moldes de yeso y modelos en vivo ocasionales, se deleitó en la atmósfera de la charla de arte con sus compañeros mayores y complació a sus padres con una marca de primera clase en anatomía. [14] En 1844, conoció al destacado artista Sir William Allan , quien llegó a Rusia con el encargo de pintar una historia de la vida de Pedro el Grande . La madre de Whistler anotó en su diario, "el gran artista me comentó 'Tu pequeño tiene un genio poco común, pero no lo instes más allá de sus inclinaciones'" [15].
En 1847-1848, su familia pasó algún tiempo en Londres con parientes, mientras que su padre se quedó en Rusia. El cuñado de Whistler, Francis Haden , un médico que también era artista, estimuló su interés por el arte y la fotografía. Haden llevó a Whistler a visitar a los coleccionistas y a dar conferencias, y le dio un juego de acuarela con instrucciones. Whistler ya se estaba imaginando una carrera artística. Comenzó a coleccionar libros de arte y estudió las técnicas de otros artistas. Cuando su retrato fue pintado por Sir William Boxall en 1848, el joven Whistler exclamó que el retrato era "muy parecido a mí y un cuadro muy bueno. El Sr. Boxall es un hermoso colorista ... Es una hermosa superficie cremosa, y se ve tan rico." [16] En su floreciente entusiasmo por el arte, a los quince años, informó a su padre por carta de su dirección futura: "Espero, querido padre, que no se oponga a mi elección". [17] Su padre, sin embargo, murió de cólera a la edad de 49 años, y la familia Whistler se mudó de regreso a la ciudad natal de su madre, Pomfret, Connecticut . Sus planes de arte permanecieron vagos y su futuro incierto. La familia vivía con frugalidad y se las arreglaba para sobrevivir con unos ingresos limitados. Su primo informó que Whistler en ese momento era "delgado, con un rostro pensativo y delicado, sombreado por suaves rizos castaños ... tenía una apariencia y modales algo extraños, que, ayudados por habilidades naturales, lo hacían muy encantador, incluso en esa edad." [18]
Punto Oeste
Whistler fue enviado a la escuela Christ Church Hall School con la esperanza de que su madre se convirtiera en ministro. [19] Whistler rara vez se quedaba sin su cuaderno de bocetos y era popular entre sus compañeros de clase por sus caricaturas. [20] Sin embargo, quedó claro que una carrera en religión no le convenía, por lo que solicitó ingresar a la Academia Militar de los Estados Unidos en West Point, donde su padre había enseñado dibujo y habían asistido otros parientes. Fue admitido en la institución altamente selectiva en julio de 1851 gracias a su apellido, a pesar de su extrema miopía y su historial médico deficiente. [21] Sin embargo, durante los tres años que estuvo allí, sus calificaciones fueron apenas satisfactorias, y fue un espectáculo lamentable en el entrenamiento y la vestimenta, conocido como "Curly" por la longitud de su cabello que excedía las regulaciones. Whistler se burló de la autoridad, soltó comentarios sarcásticos y acumuló deméritos. El coronel Robert E Lee era el superintendente de West Point y, después de una considerable indulgencia hacia Whistler, no tuvo más remedio que despedir al joven cadete. El mayor logro de Whistler en West Point fue aprender a dibujar y hacer mapas del artista estadounidense Robert W. Weir . [19]
Su salida de West Point parece haber sido precipitada por una falla en un examen de química en el que se le pidió que describiera el silicio y comenzó diciendo: "El silicio es un gas ". Como él mismo lo expresó más tarde: "Si el silicio fuera un gas, algún día habría sido general". [22] Sin embargo, una anécdota separada sugiere una mala conducta en la clase de dibujo como la razón de la partida de Whistler. [23]
Primer trabajo
Después de West Point, Whistler trabajó como dibujante mapeando toda la costa de los Estados Unidos con fines militares y marítimos. [24] Encontró el trabajo aburrido y con frecuencia llegaba tarde o ausentaba. Pasaba gran parte de su tiempo libre jugando al billar y holgazaneando, siempre estaba arruinado y, aunque era encantador, conocía poco a las mujeres. [25] Después de que se descubrió que estaba dibujando serpientes marinas, sirenas y ballenas en los márgenes de los mapas, fue transferido a la división de grabado del US Coast Survey. Duró allí solo dos meses, pero aprendió la técnica del grabado que luego resultó valiosa para su carrera. [19]
En este punto, Whistler decidió firmemente que el arte sería su futuro. Durante unos meses vivió en Baltimore con un amigo rico, Tom Winans, quien incluso le proporcionó a Whistler un estudio y algo de dinero para gastos. El joven artista hizo algunos contactos valiosos en la comunidad artística y también vendió algunas de las primeras pinturas a Winans. Whistler rechazó las sugerencias de su madre para otras carreras más prácticas y le informó que con el dinero de Winans, se proponía continuar su formación artística en París. Whistler nunca regresó a Estados Unidos. [26]
Estudio de arte en Francia
Whistler llegó a París en 1855, alquiló un estudio en el Barrio Latino y rápidamente adoptó la vida de un artista bohemio. Pronto tuvo una novia francesa, una modista llamada Héloise. [27] Estudió métodos artísticos tradicionales durante un breve período en la Ecole Impériale y en el atelier de Marc Charles Gabriel Gleyre . Este último fue un gran defensor de la obra de Ingres e impresionó a Whistler con dos principios que utilizó durante el resto de su carrera: la línea es más importante que el color y que el negro es el color fundamental de la armonía tonal. [28] Veinte años después, los impresionistas derrocarían en gran medida esta filosofía, prohibiendo el negro y el marrón como "colores prohibidos" y enfatizando el color sobre la forma. Whistler prefería estudiar por su cuenta y disfrutar de la vida del café. [19] Si bien las cartas de su casa informaban de los esfuerzos de su madre por la economía, Whistler gastó libremente, vendió poco o nada en su primer año en París y estaba endeudado. [29] Para aliviar la situación, se dedicó a pintar y vender copias de obras en el Louvre y finalmente se mudó a barrios más baratos. Quiso la suerte que la llegada a París de George Lucas, otro amigo rico, ayudó a estabilizar las finanzas de Whistler por un tiempo. A pesar de un respiro financiero, el invierno de 1857 fue difícil para Whistler. Su mala salud, empeorada por fumar y beber en exceso, lo deprimió. [30]
Las condiciones mejoraron durante el verano de 1858. Whistler se recuperó y viajó con su colega artista Ernest Delannoy a través de Francia y Renania. Más tarde produjo un grupo de aguafuertes conocido como "El conjunto francés", con la ayuda del maestro impresor francés Auguste Delâtre. Durante ese año, pintó su primer autorretrato, Retrato de Whistler con sombrero , una obra oscura y densamente renderizada que recuerda a Rembrandt . [9] Pero el acontecimiento de mayor importancia ese año fue su amistad con Henri Fantin-Latour , a quien conoció en el Louvre. A través de él, Whistler fue introducido al círculo de Gustave Courbet , que incluía a Carolus-Duran (más tarde el maestro de John Singer Sargent ), Alphonse Legros y Édouard Manet . [19]
También en este grupo estaba Charles Baudelaire , cuyas ideas y teorías del arte "moderno" influyeron en Whistler. Baudelaire desafió a los artistas a escudriñar la brutalidad de la vida y la naturaleza y a retratarla fielmente, evitando los viejos temas de la mitología y la alegoría. [31] Théophile Gautier , uno de los primeros en explorar las cualidades de traducción entre el arte y la música, pudo haber inspirado a Whistler a ver el arte en términos musicales. [32]
Londres
Reflejando el estandarte del realismo de su círculo adoptivo, Whistler pintó su primera obra expuesta, La Mere Gerard en 1858. La siguió con la pintura At the Piano en 1859 en Londres, que adoptó como su hogar, mientras también visitaba regularmente a amigos en Francia. . At the Piano es un retrato compuesto por su sobrina y su madre en su sala de música de Londres, un esfuerzo que muestra claramente su talento y promesa. Un crítico escribió: "[a pesar de] una manera imprudente y audaz y un bosquejo del tipo más salvaje y áspero, [tiene] un sentimiento genuino por el color y un espléndido poder de composición y diseño, que evidencia una apreciación justa de la naturaleza muy rara entre los artistas . " [33] La obra es poco sentimental y contrasta efectivamente a la madre en negro y la hija en blanco, con otros colores mantenidos moderados de la manera aconsejada por su maestro Gleyre. Se exhibió en la Royal Academy el año siguiente y en muchas exhibiciones por venir. [32]
En una segunda pintura ejecutada en la misma habitación, Whistler demostró su inclinación natural hacia la innovación y la novedad al crear una escena de género con una composición y un escorzo inusuales. Más tarde fue retitulado Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room . [34] Esta pintura también demostró el patrón de trabajo continuo de Whistler, especialmente con los retratos: un comienzo rápido, ajustes importantes, un período de negligencia, luego una ráfaga final hasta el final. [33]
Después de un año en Londres, como contrapunto a su conjunto francés de 1858 , en 1860, produjo otro conjunto de aguafuertes llamado Thames Set , así como algunos trabajos impresionistas tempranos, incluido The Thames in Ice . En esta etapa, estaba comenzando a establecer su técnica de armonía tonal basada en una paleta limitada y predeterminada. [35]
Carrera temprana
En 1861, después de regresar a París por un tiempo, Whistler pintó su primera obra famosa, Sinfonía en blanco, No. 1: La niña blanca . El retrato de su amante y gerente comercial Joanna Hiffernan fue creado como un simple estudio en blanco; sin embargo, otros lo vieron de manera diferente. El crítico Jules-Antoine Castagnary pensó que el cuadro era una alegoría de la inocencia perdida de una nueva novia. Otros ligados a Wilkie Collins 's La mujer de blanco , una novela popular de la época, o de otras fuentes literarias. En Inglaterra, algunos lo consideraron una pintura al estilo prerrafaelita . [36] En la pintura, Hiffernan sostiene un lirio en su mano izquierda y se para sobre una alfombra de piel de oso (algunos interpretan que representa la masculinidad y la lujuria) con la cabeza del oso mirando amenazadoramente al espectador. El retrato fue rechazado para su exhibición en la conservadora Royal Academy, pero fue exhibido en una galería privada bajo el título La mujer de blanco . En 1863 se exhibió en el Salon des Refusés de París, evento patrocinado por el emperador Napoleón III para la exhibición de obras rechazadas del Salón . [37]
La pintura de Whistler fue ampliamente notada, aunque eclipsada por la pintura más impactante de Manet, Le déjeuner sur l'herbe . Contrarrestando las críticas de los tradicionalistas, los partidarios de Whistler insistieron en que la pintura era "una aparición con un contenido espiritual" y que personificaba su teoría de que el arte debería preocuparse esencialmente por la disposición de los colores en armonía, no por una representación literal del mundo natural. [38]
Dos años más tarde, Whistler pintó otro retrato de Hiffernan en blanco, esta vez mostrando su nuevo interés por los motivos asiáticos, al que tituló La niña blanca . Su Lady of the Land Lijsen y The Golden Screen , ambas terminadas en 1864, vuelven a retratar a su amante, con un atuendo y un entorno asiáticos aún más enfáticos. [39] Durante este período, Whistler se acercó a Gustave Courbet , el primer líder de la escuela realista francesa, pero cuando Hiffernan modeló desnudo para Courbet, Whistler se enfureció y su relación con Hiffernan comenzó a desmoronarse. [40] En enero de 1864, la muy religiosa y muy apropiada madre de Whistler llegó a Londres, alterando la vida bohemia de su hijo y exacerbando temporalmente las tensiones familiares. Como le escribió a Henri Fantin-Latour , "¡Conmoción general! Tuve que vaciar mi casa y purificarla desde el sótano hasta los aleros". También inmediatamente trasladó a Hiffernan a otro lugar. [41]
Carrera madura
Nocturnos
En 1866, Whistler decidió visitar Valparaíso, Chile , un viaje que ha desconcertado a los estudiosos, aunque Whistler afirmó que lo hizo por razones políticas. Chile estaba en guerra con España y quizás Whistler pensó que era una lucha heroica de una nación pequeña contra una más grande, pero no hay evidencia que apoye esa teoría. [41] Lo que sí produjo el viaje fueron las tres primeras pinturas nocturnas de Whistler, a las que denominó "luces de luna" y luego retituló como "nocturnos", escenas nocturnas del puerto pintadas con una paleta de azul o verde claro. Después de regresar a Londres, pintó varios nocturnos más durante los siguientes diez años, muchos del río Támesis y de Cremorne Gardens , un parque de atracciones famoso por sus frecuentes exhibiciones de fuegos artificiales , que presentaban un desafío novedoso para pintar. En sus nocturnos marítimos, Whistler usó pintura muy diluida como fondo con un ligero toque de color para sugerir barcos, luces y línea de costa. [42] Algunas de las pinturas del Támesis también muestran similitudes compositivas y temáticas con los grabados japoneses de Hiroshige . [43]
En 1872, Whistler le dio crédito a su mecenas Frederick Leyland , un músico aficionado devoto de Chopin , por sus títulos de inspiración musical.
¡Digo que no puedo agradecerles demasiado por el nombre 'Nocturne' como título para mis luces de luna! No tienes idea de la irritación que produce a los críticos y el consiguiente placer para mí; además, es realmente tan encantador y dice tan poéticamente todo lo que quiero decir y no más de lo que deseo. [44]
En ese momento, Whistler pintó otro autorretrato y lo tituló Arrangement in Grey: Portrait of the Painter [45] (c. 1872), y también comenzó a cambiar el título de muchas de sus obras anteriores utilizando términos asociados con la música, como como "nocturno", "sinfonía", "armonía", "estudio" o "arreglo", para enfatizar las cualidades tonales y la composición y para restar importancia al contenido narrativo. [44] Los nocturnos de Whistler estaban entre sus obras más innovadoras. Además, su presentación de varios nocturnos al marchante de arte Paul Durand-Ruel después de la guerra franco-prusiana le dio a Whistler la oportunidad de explicar su "teoría del arte" en evolución a artistas, compradores y críticos en Francia. [46] Su buen amigo Fantin-Latour, cada vez más reaccionario en sus opiniones, especialmente en su negatividad con respecto a la escuela impresionista emergente, encontró las nuevas obras de Whistler sorprendentes y confusas. Fantin-Latour admitió: "No entiendo nada allí; es extraño cómo uno cambia. Ya no lo reconozco". Su relación estaba casi terminada para entonces, pero continuaron compartiendo opiniones en correspondencia ocasional. [47] Cuando Edgar Degas invitó a Whistler a exponer con el primer espectáculo de los impresionistas en 1874, Whistler rechazó la invitación, al igual que Manet , y algunos estudiosos lo atribuyeron en parte a la influencia de Fantin-Latour en ambos hombres. [48]
Retratos
La guerra franco-prusiana de 1870 fragmentó la comunidad artística francesa. Muchos artistas se refugiaron en Inglaterra y se unieron a Whistler, incluidos Camille Pissarro y Monet, mientras que Manet y Degas se quedaron en Francia. Al igual que Whistler, Monet y Pissarro centraron sus esfuerzos en las vistas de la ciudad, y es probable que Whistler haya estado expuesto a la evolución del impresionismo fundado por estos artistas y que hayan visto sus nocturnos. [49] Whistler se estaba alejando del "maldito realismo" de Courbet y su amistad se había debilitado, al igual que su relación con Joanna Hiffernan. [50]
Whistler's Mother
By 1871, Whistler returned to portraits and soon produced his most famous painting, the nearly monochromatic full-length figure entitled Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1, but usually referred to as Whistler's Mother. A model failed to appear one day, according to a letter from his mother, so Whistler turned to his mother and suggested that he do her portrait. He had her stand at first, in his typically slow and experimental way, but that proved too tiring so the seated pose was adopted. It took dozens of sittings to complete.[51]
The austere portrait in his normally constrained palette is another Whistler exercise in tonal harmony and composition. The deceptively simple design is in fact a balancing act of differing shapes, particularly the rectangles of curtain, picture on the wall, and floor which stabilize the curve of her face, dress, and chair. Whistler commented that the painting's narrative was of little importance,[52] yet the painting was also paying homage to his pious mother. After the initial shock of her moving in with her son, she aided him considerably by stabilizing his behavior somewhat, tending to his domestic needs, and providing an aura of conservative respectability that helped win over patrons.[51]
The public reacted negatively to the painting, mostly because of its anti-Victorian simplicity during a time in England when sentimentality and flamboyant decoration were in vogue. Critics thought the painting a failed "experiment" rather than art. The Royal Academy rejected it, but then grudgingly accepted it after lobbying by Sir William Boxall—but they hung it in an unfavorable location at their exhibition.[53]
From the start, Whistler's Mother sparked varying reactions, including parody, ridicule, and reverence, which have continued to today. Some saw it as "the dignified feeling of old ladyhood", "a grave sentiment of mourning", or a "perfect symbol of motherhood"; others employed it as a fitting vehicle for mockery. It has been satirized in endless variations in greeting cards and magazines, and by cartoon characters such as Donald Duck and Bullwinkle the Moose.[54] Whistler did his part in promoting the picture and popularizing the image. He frequently exhibited it and authorized the early reproductions that made their way into thousands of homes.[55] The painting narrowly escaped being burned in a fire aboard a train during shipping.[53] It was ultimately purchased by the French government, the first Whistler work in a public collection, and is now housed in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
During the Depression, the picture was billed as a "million dollar" painting and was a big hit at the Chicago World's Fair. It was accepted as a universal icon of motherhood by the worldwide public, which was not particularly aware of or concerned with Whistler's aesthetic theories. In recognition of its status and popularity, the United States issued a postage stamp in 1934 featuring an adaptation of the painting.[56] In 2015, New Yorker critic Peter Schjeldahl wrote that it "remains the most important American work residing outside the United States."[57] Martha Tedeschi writes:
Whistler's Mother, Wood's American Gothic, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Edvard Munch's The Scream have all achieved something that most paintings—regardless of their art historical importance, beauty, or monetary value—have not: they communicate a specific meaning almost immediately to almost every viewer. These few works have successfully made the transition from the elite realm of the museum visitor to the enormous venue of popular culture.[58]
Other portraits
Other important portraits by Whistler include those of Thomas Carlyle (historian,1873), Maud Franklin (his mistress, 1876), Cicely Alexander (daughter of a London banker, 1873), Lady Meux (socialite, 1882), and Théodore Duret (critic, 1884). In the 1870s, Whistler painted full-length portraits of F.R. Leyland and his wife Frances. Leyland subsequently commissioned the artist to decorate his dining room (see Peacock Room below).[59]
Whistler had been disappointed over the irregular acceptance of his works for the Royal Academy exhibitions and the poor hanging and placement of his paintings. In response, Whistler staged his first solo show in 1874. The show was notable and noticed, however, for Whistler's design and decoration of the hall, which harmonized well with the paintings, in keeping with his art theories. A reviewer wrote, "The visitor is struck, on entering the gallery, with a curious sense of harmony and fitness pervading it, and is more interested, perhaps, in the general effect than in any one work."[60]
Whistler was not so successful a portrait painter as the other famous expatriate American John Singer Sargent. Whistler's spare technique and his disinclination to flatter his sitters, as well as his notoriety, may account for this. He also worked very slowly and demanded extraordinarily long sittings. William Merritt Chase complained of his sitting for a portrait by Whistler, "He proved to be a veritable tyrant, painting every day into the twilight, while my limbs ached with weariness and my head swam dizzily. 'Don't move! Don't move!' he would scream whenever I started to rest."[61] By the time he gained widespread acceptance in the 1890s, Whistler was past his prime as a portrait painter.[62]
Technique
Whistler's approach to portraiture in his late maturity was described by one of his sitters, Arthur J. Eddy, who posed for the artist in 1894:
He worked with great rapidity and long hours, but he used his colours thin and covered the canvas with innumerable coats of paint. The colours increased in depth and intensity as the work progressed. At first the entire figure was painted in greyish-brown tones, with very little flesh colour, the whole blending perfectly with the greyish-brown of the prepared canvas; then the entire background would be intensified a little; then the figure made a little stronger; then the background, and so on from day to day and week to week, and often from month to month. ... And so the portrait would really grow, really develop as an entirety, very much as a negative under the action of the chemicals comes out gradually—light, shadows, and all from the very first faint indications to their full values. It was as if the portrait were hidden within the canvas and the master by passing his wands day after day over the surface evoked the image.[63]
Printmaking
Whistler produced numerous etchings, lithographs, and dry-points. His lithographs, some drawn on stone, others drawn directly on "lithographie" paper, are perhaps half as numerous as his etchings. Some of the lithographs are of figures slightly draped; two or three of the very finest are of Thames subjects—including a "nocturne" at Limehouse; while others depict the Faubourg Saint-Germain in Paris, and Georgian churches in Soho and Bloomsbury in London.
The etchings include portraits of family, mistresses, and intimate street scenes in London and Venice.[65] Whistler gained an enormous reputation as an etcher. Martin Hardie wrote "there are some who set him beside Rembrandt, perhaps above Rembrandt, as the greatest master of all time. Personally, I prefer to regard them as the Jupiter and Venus, largest and brightest among the planets in the etcher's heaven."[66] He took great care over the printing of his etchings and the choice of paper. At the beginning and end of his career, he placed great emphasis on cleanness of line, though in a middle period he experimented more with inking and the use of surface tone.[67]
Butterfly signature and painting settings
Whistler's famous butterfly signature first developed in the 1860s out of his interest in Asian art. He studied the potter's marks on the china he had begun to collect and decided to design a monogram of his initials. Over time this evolved into the shape of an abstract butterfly. By around 1880, he added a stinger to the butterfly image to create a mark representing both his gentle, sensitive nature and his provocative, feisty spirit.[68] He took great care in the appropriate placement of the image on both his paintings and his custom-made frames. His focus on the importance of balance and harmony extended beyond the frame to the placement of his paintings to their settings, and further to the design of an entire architectural element, as in the Peacock Room.[46]
The Peacock Room
Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room[69] is Whistler's masterpiece of interior decorative mural art. He painted over the original paneled room designed by Thomas Jeckyll (1827–1881), in a unified palette of brilliant blue-greens with over-glazing and metallic gold leaf. Painted in 1876–1877, it is now considered a high example of the Anglo-Japanese style. Frederick Leyland left the room in Whistler's care to make minor changes, "to harmonize" the room whose primary purpose was to display Leyland's china collection. Whistler let his imagination run wild, however: "Well, you know, I just painted on. I went on—without design or sketch—putting in every touch with such freedom ... And the harmony in blue and gold developing, you know, I forgot everything in my joy of it." He completely painted over 16th-century Cordoba leather wall coverings first brought to Britain by Catherine of Aragon that Leyland had paid £1,000 for.[70]
Having acquired the centerpiece of the room, Whistler's painting of The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, American industrialist and aesthete Charles Lang Freer purchased the entire room in 1904 from Leyland's heirs, including Leyland's daughter and her husband, the British artist Val Prinsep. Freer then had the contents of the Peacock Room installed in his Detroit mansion. After Freer's death in 1919, The Peacock Room was permanently installed in the Freer Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The gallery opened to the public in 1923.[71] A large painted caricature by Whistler of Leyland portraying him as an anthropomorphic peacock playing a piano, and entitled The Gold Scab: Eruption in Frilthy Lucre[72] – a pun on Leyland's fondness for frilly shirt fronts – is now in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Ruskin trial
In 1877 Whistler sued the critic John Ruskin for libel after the critic condemned his painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket. Whistler exhibited the work in the Grosvenor Gallery, an alternative to the Royal Academy exhibition, alongside works by Edward Burne-Jones and other artists. Ruskin, who had been a champion of the Pre-Raphaelites and J. M. W. Turner, reviewed Whistler's work in his publication Fors Clavigera on July 2, 1877. Ruskin praised Burne-Jones, while he attacked Whistler:
For Mr. Whistler's own sake, no less than for the protection of the purchaser, Sir Coutts Lindsay [founder of the Grosvenor Gallery] ought not to have admitted works into the gallery in which the ill-educated conceit of the artist so nearly approached the aspect of willful imposture. I have seen, and heard, much of Cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face.[73]
Whistler, seeing the attack in the newspaper, replied to his friend George Boughton, "It is the most debased style of criticism I have had thrown at me yet." He then went to his solicitor and drew up a writ for libel which was served to Ruskin.[74] Whistler hoped to recover £1,000 plus the costs of the action. The case came to trial the following year after delays caused by Ruskin's bouts of mental illness, while Whistler's financial condition continued to deteriorate.[75] It was heard in the Exchequer Division of the High Court on November 25 and 26, 1878 before Baron Huddleston and a special jury.[76] Counsel for John Ruskin, Attorney General Sir John Holker, cross-examined Whistler:
Holker: "What is the subject of Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket?"
Whistler: "It is a night piece and represents the fireworks at Cremorne Gardens."
Holker: "Not a view of Cremorne?"
Whistler: "If it were A View of Cremorne it would certainly bring about nothing but disappointment on the part of the beholders. It is an artistic arrangement. That is why I call it a nocturne. ..."
Holker: "Did it take you much time to paint the Nocturne in Black and Gold? How soon did you knock it off?"
Whistler: "Oh, I 'knock one off' possibly in a couple of days – one day to do the work and another to finish it ..." [the painting measures 24 3/4 x 18 3/8 inches]
Holker: "The labour of two days is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?"
Whistler: "No, I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime."[77]
Whistler had counted on many artists to take his side as witnesses, but they refused, fearing damage to their reputations. The other witnesses for him were unconvincing and the jury's own reaction to the work was derisive. With Ruskin's witnesses more impressive, including Edward Burne-Jones, and with Ruskin absent for medical reasons, Whistler's counter-attack was ineffective. Nonetheless, the jury reached a verdict in favor of Whistler, but awarded a mere farthing in nominal damages, and the court costs were split.[78] The cost of the case, together with huge debts from building his residence ("The White House" in Tite Street, Chelsea, designed with E. W. Godwin, 1877–8), bankrupted him by May 1879,[79] resulting in an auction of his work, collections, and house. Stansky[80] notes the irony that the Fine Art Society of London, which had organized a collection to pay for Ruskin's legal costs, supported him in etching "The Stones of Venice" (and in exhibiting the series in 1883), which helped recoup Whistler's costs.
Whistler published his account of the trial in the pamphlet Whistler v. Ruskin: Art and Art Critics,[81] included in his later The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (1890), in December 1878, soon after the trial. Whistler's grand hope that the publicity of the trial would rescue his career was dashed as he lost rather than gained popularity among patrons because of it. Among his creditors was Leyland, who oversaw the sale of Whistler's possessions.[82] Whistler made various caricatures of his former patron, including a biting satirical painting called The Gold Scab, just after Whistler declared bankruptcy. Whistler always blamed Leyland for his financial downfall.[83]
Años despues
After the trial, Whistler received a commission to do twelve etchings in Venice. He eagerly accepted the assignment, and arrived in the city with girlfriend Maud, taking rooms in a dilapidated palazzo they shared with other artists, including John Singer Sargent.[85] Although homesick for London, he adapted to Venice and set about discovering its character. He did his best to distract himself from the gloom of his financial affairs and the pending sale of all his goods at Sotheby's. He was a regular guest at parties at the American consulate, and with his usual wit, enchanted the guests with verbal flourishes such as "the artist's only positive virtue is idleness—and there are so few who are gifted at it."[86]
His new friends reported, on the contrary, that Whistler rose early and put in a full day of effort.[87] He wrote to a friend, "I have learned to know a Venice in Venice that the others never seem to have perceived, and which, if I bring back with me as I propose, will far more than compensate for all annoyances delays & vexations of spirit."[88] The three-month assignment stretched to fourteen months. During this exceptionally productive period, Whistler finished over fifty etchings, several nocturnes, some watercolors, and over 100 pastels—illustrating both the moods of Venice and its fine architectural details.[85] Furthermore, Whistler influenced the American art community in Venice, especially Frank Duveneck (and Duveneck's 'boys') and Robert Blum who emulated Whistler's vision of the city and later spread his methods and influence back to America.[89]
Back in London, the pastels sold particularly well and he quipped, "They are not as good as I supposed. They are selling!"[90] He was actively engaged in exhibiting his other work but with limited success. Though still struggling financially, however, he was heartened by the attention and admiration he received from the younger generation of English and American painters who made him their idol and eagerly adopted the title "pupil of Whistler". Many of them returned to America and spread tales of Whistler's provocative egotism, sharp wit, and aesthetic pronouncements—establishing the legend of Whistler, much to his great satisfaction.[90]
Whistler published his first book, Ten O'clock Lecture in 1885, a major expression of his belief in "art for art's sake". At the time, the opposing Victorian notion reigned, namely, that art, and indeed much human activity, had a moral or social function. To Whistler, however, art was its own end and the artist's responsibility was not to society, but to himself, to interpret through art, and to neither reproduce nor moralize what he saw.[91] Furthermore, he stated, "Nature is very rarely right", and must be improved upon by the artist, with his own vision.[92]
Though differing with Whistler on several points, including his insistence that poetry was a higher form of art than painting,[93] Oscar Wilde was generous in his praise and hailed the lecture a masterpiece:
not merely for its clever satire and amusing jests ... but for the pure and perfect beauty of many of its passages ... for that he is indeed one of the very greatest masters of painting, in my opinion. And I may add that in this opinion Mr. Whistler himself entirely concurs.[91]
Whistler, however, thought himself mocked by Oscar Wilde, and from then on, public sparring ensued leading to a total breakdown of their friendship, precipitated by a report written by Herbert Vivian.[94][95] Later, Wilde struck at Whistler again, basing the murdered artist in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray after Whistler.[96]
In January 1881, Anna Whistler died. In his mother's honour, thereafter, he publicly adopted her maiden name McNeill as a middle name.[97]
Whistler joined the Society of British Artists in 1884, and on June 1, 1886, he was elected president. The following year, during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, Whistler presented to the Queen, on the Society's behalf, an elaborate album including a lengthy written address and illustrations that he made. Queen Victoria so admired "the beautiful and artistic illumination" that she decreed henceforth, "that the Society should be called Royal." This achievement was widely appreciated by the members, but soon it was overshadowed by the dispute that inevitably arose with the Royal Academy of Arts. Whistler proposed that members of the Royal Society should withdraw from the Royal Academy. This ignited a feud within the membership ranks that overshadowed all other society business. In May 1888, nine members wrote to Whistler to demand his resignation. At the annual meeting on June 4, he was defeated for re-election by a vote of 18–19, with nine abstentions. Whistler and 25 supporters resigned,[98] while the anti-Whistler majority (in his view) was successful in purging him for his "eccentricities" and "non-English" background.[99]
With his relationship with Maud unraveling, Whistler suddenly proposed to and married Beatrice Godwin (also called 'Beatrix' or 'Trixie'), a former pupil and the widow of his architect Edward William Godwin. Through his friendship with Godwin, Whistler had become close to Beatrice, whom Whistler painted in the full-length portrait titled Harmony in Red: Lamplight (GLAHA 46315).[100][101] By the summer of 1888 Whistler and Beatrice appeared in public as a couple. At a dinner Louise Jopling and Henry Labouchère insisted that they should be married before the end of the week.[102]
The marriage ceremony was arranged; as a member of Parliament, Labouchère arranged for the Chaplain to the House of Commons to marry the couple.[102] No publicity was given to the ceremony to avoid the possibility of a furious Maud Franklin interrupting the marriage ceremony.[102] The marriage took place on August 11, 1888, with the ceremony attended by a reporter from the Pall Mall Gazette, so that the event receive publicity. The couple left soon after for Paris, to avoid any risk of a scene with Maud.[102]
Whistler's reputation in London and Paris was rising and he gained positive reviews from critics and new commissions.[103] His book The Gentle Art of Making Enemies was published in 1890 to mixed success, but it afforded helpful publicity.[104]
In 1890, he met Charles Lang Freer, who became a valuable patron in America, and ultimately, his most important collector.[105] Around this time, in addition to portraiture, Whistler experimented with early colour photography and with lithography, creating a series featuring London architecture and the human figure, mostly female nudes.[106] He contributed the first three of his Songs of Stone lithographs to The Whirlwind a Neo-Jacobite magazine published by his friend Herbert Vivian.[107] Whistler had met Vivian in the late 1880s when both were members of the Order of the White Rose, the first of the Neo-Jacobite societies.[citation needed] In 1891, with help from his close friend Stéphane Mallarmé, Whistler's Mother was purchased by the French government for 4,000 francs. This was much less than what an American collector might have paid, but that would not have been so prestigious by Whistler's reckoning.[108]
After an indifferent reception to his solo show in London, featuring mostly his nocturnes, Whistler abruptly decided he had had enough of London. He and Trixie moved to Paris in 1892 and resided at n° 110 Rue du Bac, Paris, with his studio at the top of 86 Rue Notre Dame des Champs in Montparnasse.[109][110] He felt welcomed by Monet, Auguste Rodin, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and by Stéphane Mallarmé, and he set himself up a large studio. He was at the top of his career when it was discovered that Trixie had cancer. They returned to London in February 1896, taking rooms at the Savoy Hotel while they sought medical treatment. He made drawings on lithographic transfer paper of the view of the River Thames, from the hotel window or balcony, as he sat with her.[111] She died a few months later.[112]
In 1899, Charles Freer introduced Whistler to his friend and fellow businessman Richard Albert Canfield, who became a personal friend and patron of Whistler's. Canfield owned a number of fashionable gambling houses in New York, Rhode Island, Saratoga Springs and Newport, and was also a man of culture with refined tastes in art. He owned early American and Chippendale furniture, tapestries, Chinese porcelain and Barye bronzes, and possessed the second-largest and most important Whistler collection in the world prior to his death in 1914. In May 1901, Canfield commissioned a portrait from Whistler; he started to pose for Portrait of Richard A. Canfield (YMSM 547) in March 1902. According to Alexander Gardiner, Canfield returned to Europe to sit for Whistler at the New Year in 1903, and sat every day until May 16, 1903. Whistler was ill and frail at this time and the work was his last completed portrait. The deceptive air of respectability that the portrait gave Canfield caused Whistler to call it 'His Reverence'. The two men were in correspondence from 1901 until Whistler's death.[113] A few months before his own death, Canfield sold his collection of etchings, lithographs, drawings and paintings by Whistler to the American art dealer Roland F. Knoedler for $300,000. Three of Canfield's Whistler paintings hang in the Frick Museum in New York City.
In the final seven years of his life, Whistler did some minimalist seascapes in watercolor and a final self-portrait in oil. He corresponded with his many friends and colleagues. Whistler founded an art school in 1898, but his poor health and infrequent appearances led to its closure in 1901.[114] He died in London on July 17, 1903, six days after his 69th birthday.[115] He is buried in Chiswick Old Cemetery in west London, adjoining St Nicholas Church, Chiswick.[116]
Whistler was the subject of a 1908 biography by his friends, the husband and wife team of Joseph Pennell and Elizabeth Robins Pennell, printmaker and art critic respectively. The Pennells' vast collection of Whistler material was bequeathed to the Library of Congress.[117] The artist's entire estate was left to his sister-in-law Rosalind Birnie Philip. She spent the rest of her life defending his reputation and managing his art and effects, much of which eventually was donated to Glasgow University.[118]
Relaciones personales
Whistler had a distinctive appearance, short and slight, with piercing eyes and a curling mustache, often sporting a monocle and the flashy attire of a dandy.[119] He affected a posture of self-confidence and eccentricity. He often was arrogant and selfish toward friends and patrons. A constant self-promoter and egoist, he relished shocking friends and enemies. Though he could be droll and flippant about social and political matters, he always was serious about art and often invited public controversy and debate to argue for his strongly held theories.[3]
Whistler had a high-pitched, drawling voice and a unique manner of speech, full of calculated pauses. A friend said, "In a second you discover that he is not conversing—he is sketching in words, giving impressions in sound and sense to be interpreted by the hearer."[120]
Whistler was well known for his biting wit, especially in exchanges with his friend and rival Oscar Wilde. Both were figures in the Café society of Paris, and they were often the "talk of the town". They frequently appeared as caricatures in Punch, to their mutual amusement. On one occasion, young Oscar Wilde attended one of Whistler's dinners, and hearing his host make some brilliant remark, apparently said, "I wish I'd said that", to which Whistler riposted, "You will, Oscar, you will!" In fact, Wilde did repeat in public many witticisms created by Whistler.[91] Their relationship soured by the mid-1880s, as Whistler turned against Wilde and the Aesthetic Movement. When Wilde was publicly acknowledged to be a homosexual in 1895, Whistler openly mocked him. Whistler reveled in preparing and managing his social gatherings. As a guest observed:
One met all the best in Society there—the people with brains, and those who had enough to appreciate them. Whistler was an inimitable host. He loved to be the Sun round whom we lesser lights revolved ... All came under his influence, and in consequence no one was bored, no one dull.[121]
In Paris Whistler was friends with members of the Symbolist circle of artists, writers and poets that included Stéphane Mallarmé[122] and Marcel Schwob.[123] Schwob had met Whistler in the mid-1890s through Stéphane Mallarmé they had other mutual friends including Oscar Wilde (until they argued) and Whistler's brother-in-law, Charles Whibley.
In addition to Henri Fantin-Latour, Alphonse Legros, and Courbet, Whistler was friendly with many other French artists. He illustrated the book Les Chauves-Souris with Antonio de La Gandara. He also knew the Impressionists, notably Édouard Manet, Monet, and Edgar Degas. As a young artist, he maintained a close friendship with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His close friendships with Monet and poet Stéphane Mallarmé, who translated the Ten O'Clock Lecture into French, helped strengthen respect for Whistler by the French public.[124] Whistler was friendly with his fellow students at Gleyre's studio, including Ignace Schott, whose son Leon Dabo Whistler later would mentor.[125]
Whistler's lover and model for The White Girl, Joanna Hiffernan, also posed for Gustave Courbet. Historians speculate that Courbet used her as the model for his erotic painting L'Origine du monde, possibly leading to the breakup of the friendship between Whistler and Courbet. During the 1870s and much of the 1880s, he lived with his model-mistress Maud Franklin. Her ability to endure his long, repetitive sittings helped Whistler develop his portrait skills.[121] He not only made several excellent portraits of her but she was also a helpful stand-in for other sitters.Whistler had several illegitimate children, of whom Charles Hanson is the best documented.[126] After parting from his mistress Joanna Hiffernan, she helped to raise Whistler's son, Charles James Whistler Hanson (1870–1935),[127] the result of an affair with a parlour maid, Louisa Fanny Hanson.[128] By his common law mistress Maud Franklin Whistler had two daughters: Ione (born circa 1877) and Maud McNeill Whistler Franklin (born 1879).[129] She sometimes referred to herself as 'Mrs. Whistler',[130] and in the census of 1881 gave her name as 'Mary M. Whistler'.[131]
In 1888, Whistler married Beatrice Godwin, (who was called 'Beatrix' or 'Trixie' by Whistler). She was the widow of the architect E. W. Godwin, who had designed Whistler's White House. Beatrix was the daughter of the sculptor John Birnie Philip[132] and his wife Frances Black. Beatrix and her sisters Rosalind Birnie Philip[133] and Ethel Whibley posed for many of Whistler's paintings and drawings; with Ethel Whibley modeling for Mother of pearl and silver: The Andalusian (1888–1900).[128] The first five years of their marriage were very happy, but her later life was a time of misery for the couple, due to her illness and eventual death from cancer. Near the end, she lay comatose much of the time, completely subdued by morphine, given for pain relief. Her death was a strong blow Whistler never quite overcame.[134]
Legado
Whistler was inspired by and incorporated many sources in his art, including the work of Rembrandt, Velázquez, and ancient Greek sculpture to develop his own highly influential and individual style.[68] He was adept in many media, with over 500 paintings, as well as etchings, pastels, watercolors, drawings, and lithographs.[135] Whistler was a leader in the Aesthetic Movement, promoting, writing, and lecturing on the "art for art's sake" philosophy. With his pupils, he advocated simple design, economy of means, the avoidance of over-labored technique, and the tonal harmony of the final result.[68] Whistler has been the subject of many major museum exhibitions, studies, and publications. Like the Impressionists, he employed nature as an artistic resource. Whistler insisted that it was the artist's obligation to interpret what he saw, not be a slave to reality, and to "bring forth from chaos glorious harmony".[68]
During his life, he affected two generations of artists, in Europe and in the United States. Whistler had significant contact and exchanged ideas and ideals with Realist, Impressionist, and Symbolist painters. Famous protégés for a time included Walter Sickert and writer Oscar Wilde. His Tonalism had a profound effect on many American artists, including John Singer Sargent, William Merritt Chase, Henry Salem Hubbell and Willis Seaver Adams (whom he befriended in Venice). Another significant influence was upon Arthur Frank Mathews, whom Whistler met in Paris in the late 1890s. Mathews took Whistler's Tonalism to San Francisco, spawning a broad use of that technique among turn-of-the-century California artists. As American critic Charles Caffin wrote in 1907:
He did better than attract a few followers and imitators; he influenced the whole world of art. Consciously, or unconsciously, his presence is felt in countless studios; his genius permeates modern artistic thought.[91]
During a trip to Venice in 1880, Whistler created a series of etchings and pastels that not only reinvigorated his finances, but also re-energized the way in which artists and photographers interpreted the city—focusing on the back alleys, side canals, entrance ways, and architectural patterns—and capturing the city's unique atmospherics.[89]
In 1940 Whistler was commemorated on a United States postage stamp when the U.S. Post Office issued a set of 35 stamps commemorating America's famous Authors, Poets, Educators, Scientists, Composers, Artists, and Inventors: the 'Famous Americans Series'.
The Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Patience pokes fun at the Aesthetic movement, and the lead character of Reginald Bunthorne is often identified as a send-up of Oscar Wilde, though Bunthorne is more likely an amalgam of several prominent artists, writers, and Aesthetic figures. Bunthorne wears a monocle and has prominent white streaks in his dark hair, as did Whistler.
Whistler was the favorite artist of singer and actress Doris Day. She owned and displayed an original etching of Whistler's Rotherhithe, and two of his original lithographs, The Steps, Luxembourg Gardens, Paris and The Pantheon, from the Terrace of the Luxembourg Gardens.[136]
The house in which Whistler was born is now preserved as the Whistler House Museum of Art. He is buried at St Nicholas Church, Chiswick.
Honores
Whistler achieved worldwide recognition during his lifetime:
- 1884, elected an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.
- 1892, made an officer of the Légion d'honneur in France.[137]
- 1898, became a charter member and first president, International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers.
A statue of James McNeill Whistler by Nicholas Dimbleby was erected in 2005 at the north end of Battersea Bridge on the River Thames in the United Kingdom.[138]
Galería
The Thames in Ice, 1860; oil on canvas
The Princess from the Land of Porcelain, 1863–1865; oil on canvas
Valparaiso Harbor, 1866; oil on canvas
Variations in Pink and Grey- Chelsea, 1870–71; oil on canvas
Nocturne in Gray and Gold, Westminster Bridge, 1874; oil on canvas
Nocturne, 1870–1877; oil on canvas
Fishing Boat, 1879–80; etching on laid paper
Nocturne in Pink and Gray, Portrait of Lady Meux, 1881; oil on canvas
Amsterdam Nocturne, 1883–84; watercolour on brown paper
An Orange Note, 1884; oil-painting
Green and Silver- Beaulieu, Touraine, 1888; watercolor painting
The Canal Amsterdam, 1889; painting
The Bathing Posts, Brittany, 1893; oil on wood
Harmony in Blue and Gold - The Little Blue Girl, 1894-1902
Blue and Coral The Little Blue Bonnet, 1898; oil-painting
Registros de subasta
On October 27, 2010, Swann Galleries set a record price for a Whistler print at auction, when Nocturne, an etching and drypoint printed in black on warm, cream Japan paper, 1879–80 sold for $282,000.[139]
Ver también
- John Wharlton Bunney
- Western painting
Notas
- ^ Bridgers, Jeff (June 20, 2013). "Whistler's Butterfly" (webpage). Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ "Image gallery of some of Whistler's well-known paintings and others by his contemporaries". Dia.org. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ a b Peters (1996), p. 4.
- ^ Spencer, Robin (2004). "Whistler, James Abbott Mc Neill (1834–1903), painter and printmaker". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36855. ISBN 9780198614128. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ Letter to Whistler from Anna Matilda Whistler, dated July 11, 1855. The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, Glasgow University Library, reference MS Whistler W458. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- ^ Letter to Whistler from Anna Matilda Whistler, dated July 11, 1876. The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, Glasgow University Library, reference Whistler W552. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
- ^ a b New England Magazine (February 1904). "Whistler's Father". New England Magazine. Boston, MA: America Company. 29.
- ^ "Home". www.whistlerhouse.org.
- ^ a b c Peters (1996), p. 11.
- ^ Phaneuf, Wayne (May 10, 2011). "Springfield's 375th: From Puritans to presidents". masslive.com.
- ^ "Springfield Museums". Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- ^ a b "James Abbott McNeill Whistler – Questroyal". www.questroyalfineart.com.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 9.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 11.
- ^ Robin Spencer, ed., Whistler: A Retrospective, Wings Books, New York, 1989, p. 35, ISBN 0-517-05773-5
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 20.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 18-20.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 23.
- ^ a b c d e Peters (1996), p. 12.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 24.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), pp. 26–27.
- ^ "Books: West Pointer with a Brush". Time. March 23, 1953. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
- ^ "Blackwell, Jon, A Salute to West Point". Usma.edu. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 35.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 36.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 38.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 47.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 50.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 52.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 60.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 48.
- ^ a b Peters (1996), p. 13.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 90.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 14.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 15.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 106, 119.
- ^ "Explanation of Whistler's purpose in making the painting Symphony in White". Dia.org. Archived from the original on September 5, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 17.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 18, 24.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 19.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 141.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 30.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 187.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 186.
- ^ "Detroit Institute of Arts webpage image and description of painting". Dia.org. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 191.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 192.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 194.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 179.
- ^ Anderson and Koval, p. 141, plate 7.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 180.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 34.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 183.
- ^ Margaret F. MacDonald, ed., Whistler's Mother: An American Icon, Lund Humphries, Burlington, Vt., 2003, p. 137; ISBN 0-85331-856-5
- ^ Margaret F. MacDonald, p. 125.
- ^ Margaret F. MacDonald, p. 80.
- ^ Johnson, Steve. "She's ba-aack: 'Whistler's Mother,' a more exciting painting than you might think, returns to Art Institute". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ MacDonald, p. 121.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 36, 43.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 197.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 275.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 199.
- ^ Spencer, Robin, Whistler, p. 132. Studio Editions Ltd., 1994; ISBN 1-85170-904-5
- ^ "The Doorway". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 311.
- ^ Hardie (1921), p. 18.
- ^ Hardie (1921), p. 19-20.
- ^ a b c d Peters (1996), p. 7.
- ^ "A Closer Look – James McNeill Whistler – Peacock Room". Asia.si.edu. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 37.
- ^ "Freer Gallery brochure about The Peacock Room" (PDF). Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ "FRAME|WORK: The Gold Scab: Eruption in Frilthy Lucre (The Creditor) by James McNeill Whistler". Deyoung.famsf.org. May 30, 2012. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 215.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 216.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 217.
- ^ Whistler, 2-5; The Times (London, England), Tuesday, November 26, 26, 1878; p. 9.
- ^ Petra ten-Doesschate Chu, Nineteenth-Century European Art, p. 349.
- ^ Peters, pp. 51–52.
- ^ "See The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler". Whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk. October 14, 2003. Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Peter Stansky's review of Linda Merrill's A Pot of Paint: Aesthetics on Trial in Whistler v. Ruskin in the Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Winter, 1994), pgs. 536–7 [1]
- ^ Whistler, James Mcneill (January 1967). The Gentle Art of Making Enemies – James McNeill Whistler. ISBN 9780486218755. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 227.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 210.
- ^ "National Gallery of Art webpage describing "Mother of pearl and silver: The Andalusian". Nga.gov.au. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 228.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 230.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 232.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 233-234.
- ^ a b Peters (1996), p. 54.
- ^ a b Peters (1996), p. 55.
- ^ a b c d Peters (1996), p. 57.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 256.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 270.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 271.
- ^ Ellmann, Richard (September 4, 2013). Oscar Wilde. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 9780804151122.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 314.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 242.
- ^ Margaret F. McDonald, "Whistler for President!", in Richard Dorment and Margaret F. McDonald, eds., James McNeill Whistler, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Publishers, New York, 1994, pp. 49–55, ISBN 0-89468-212-1
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 273.
- ^ ""Harmony in Red: Lamplight" (1884–1886)". The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
- ^ Weintraub (1983), p. 323.
- ^ a b c d Weintraub (1983), p. 327-328.
- ^ Weintraub (1983), p. 308–373.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 60.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 321.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 324.
- ^ Sutherland2014, p. 247.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 342.
- ^ Weintraub (1983), p. 374–384.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 357.
- ^ "Turner, Whistler, Monet: Thames Views" Archived March 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. The Tate Museum, London, 2005, accessed December 3, 2010.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 62-63.
- ^ "The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler :: Biography". www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk.
- ^ Peters (1996), p. 63.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 457.
- ^ London Cemeteries: An Illustrated Guide and Gazetteer, by Hugh Meller and Brian Parsons.
- ^ Anderson and Koval, plate 44.
- ^ Anderson and Koval, plate 46.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 240.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 204.
- ^ a b Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 203.
- ^ Letter from James McNeill Whistler to Beatrix Whistler, March 3, 1895, University of Glasgow, Special Collections, reference: GB 0247 MS Whistler W620.
- ^ "University of Glasgow, Special Collections". Whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 289.
- ^ Pennell & Pennell (1911), p. 43.
- ^ Anderson and Koval, plate 40.
- ^ Patricia de Montfort, "White Muslin: Joanna Hiffernan and the 1860s," in Whistler, Women, and Fashion (Frick Collection, New York, in association with Yale University Press, New Haven, 2003), p. 79.
- ^ a b "Biography of Ethel Whibley (1861–1920) University of Glasgow, Special Collections". Whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk. May 21, 1920. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Spencer, p. 88.
- ^ Weintraub (1983), p. 166 & 322.
- ^ Weintraub (1983).
- ^ "The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler :: Biography". Whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk. February 20, 2003. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ "Biography of Rosalind Birnie Philip, (1873–1958) University of Glasgow, Special Collections". Whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk.
- ^ Anderson and Koval, plate 45.
- ^ Anderson & Koval (1995), p. 106.
- ^ "Doris Day's Estate at Auction". Barnebys.com. April 1, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
- ^ "Léonore database". Culture.gouv.fr. Retrieved July 15, 2013.
- ^ Cookson 2006, p. 122.
- ^ "Nocturne: Our Most Expensive Print". Swann Galleries. Retrieved August 16, 2019.
Referencias
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Cookson, Brian (2006), Crossing the River, Edinburgh: Mainstream, ISBN 978-1-84018-976-6, OCLC 63400905
- Snodin, Michael and John Styles. Design & The Decorative Arts, Britain 1500–1900. V&A Publications: 2001. ISBN 1-85177-338-X
- Anderson, Ronald; Koval, Anne (1995). James McNeill Whistler: Beyond the Myth. New York, NY.: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0-7867-0187-2. OCLC 613244627.
- Hardie, Martin (1921). The British School of Etching. London: The Print Collectors Club.
- Pennell, Joseph; Pennell, Elizabeth Robins (1911). The Life of James McNeill Whistler (5th ed.). London: William Heinemann.
- Peters, Lisa N. (1996). James McNeil Whistler. New York, NY: Smithmark. ISBN 978-0-7651-9961-4. OCLC 36587931.
- Sutherland, Daniel E. (2014). Whistler, A Life for Arts Sake. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13545-9..
- Spencer, Robin (1994). Whistler. London: Studio Editions. ISBN 1-85170-904-5.
- Weintraub, Stanley (1983). Whistler. New York, NY: E.P. Dutton. ISBN 0-679-40099-0.
Primary sources
- "George A. Lucas Papers". The Baltimore Museum of Art. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015.
- Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies (3rd ed, Puttnam, New York, 1904 [2]
Otras lecturas
- Bendix, D M (1995). Diabolical Designs: Paintings, Interiors and Exhibitions of James McNeill Whistler. Washington D.C. The Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-415-5.
- Cox, Devon (2015). The Street of Wonderful Possibilities: Whistler, Wilde and Sargent in Tite Street. London: Frances Lincoln. ISBN 9780711236738.
- Curry, David Park (1984). James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art. New York: W. W. Norton and Freer Gallery of Art. ISBN 9780393018479.
- Denker, Eric (2003). Whistler and His Circle in Venice. London: Merrell Publishers. ISBN 1-85894-200-4.
- Dorment, R and MacDonald, M. F. (1994). James McNeill Whistler. London: Tate Gallery. ISBN 1-85437-145-2.
- Fleming, G. H. (1991). James Abbott McNeill Whistler: A Life. Adlestrop: Windrush. ISBN 0-900075-61-9.
- Fleming, G. H. (1978). The Young Whistler, 1834–66. London: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 0-04-927009-5.
- Glazer, Lee, et al. (2008). James McNeill Whistler in Context. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 978-0-934686-09-9.
- Glazer, Lee and Merrill, Linda eds. (2013). Palaces of Art: Whistler and the Art Worlds of Aestheticism. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. ISBN 978-1-935623-29-8.
- Gregory, Horace (1961). The World of James McNeill Whistler. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-04-927009-5.
- Grieve, Alastair (1984). Whistler's Venice. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08449-8.
- Heijbroek, J. E. and MacDonald, Margaret F. (1997). Whistler and Holland. Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. ISBN 90-400-9183-8.
- Levey, Mervyn (1975). Whistler Lithographs, Catalogue Raisonne. London: Jupiter Books.
- Lochnan, Katherine A.(1984). The Etchings of James McNeill Whistler. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03283-8.
- MacDonald Margaret F. (2001). Palaces in the Night: Whistler and Venice. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23049-3.
- MacDonald, Margaret F. ed. (2003). Whistler's Mother, An American Icon. Aldershot: Lund Humphries. ISBN 0-85331-856-5.
- MacDonald, Margaret F., Galassi, Susan Grace and Ribeiro, Aileen (2003). Whistler, Women, & Fashion. Frick Collection/Yale University. ISBN 0-300-09906-1.
- MacDonald, Margaret F., and de Montfort, Patricia (2013). An American in London, Whistler and the Thames. London: Philip Wilson Publishers. ISBN 978-1-78130-022-0.
- Merrill, Linda (1992). A Pot of Paint; Aesthetics on Trial in Whistler v. Ruskin. Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-300-0.
- Merrill, Linda (1998). The Peacock Room: A Cultural Biography. Washington, D.C.: Freer Gallery of Art / Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07611-8.
- Merrill, Linda, and Ridley, Sarah (1993) The Princess and the Peacocks; or, The Story of the [Peacock] Room. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, in association with the Freer Gallery of Art. ISBN 1-56282-327-2.
- Merrill, Linda, et al. (2003) After Whistler: The Artist and his Influence on American Painting. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10125-2.
- Munhall, Edgar (1995). Whistler and Montesquiou. Paris: Flammarion. ISBN 2-08013-578-3.
- Pearson, Hesketh (1978) [1952]. The Man Whistler. London: Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 0-354-04224-6.
- Petri, Grischka (2011). Arrangement in Business: The Art Markets and the Career of James McNeill Whistler. Hildesheim: G. Olms. ISBN 978-3-487-14630-0.
- Robins, Anna Gruetzner (2007). A Fragile Modernism, Whistler and his Impressionist Followers. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13545-9.
- Spencer, Robin (1991). Whistler: A Retrospective. New York: Wing Books. ISBN 0-517-05773-5.
- Stubbs, Burns A. (1950). James McNeill Whistler: A Biographical Outline Illustrated from the Collections of the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
- Sutherland, Daniel E. and Toutziari, G. (2018). James McNeill Whistler. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-20346-2.
- Thompson, Jennifer A. (2017). "Purple and Rose: The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (cat. 1112)." In The John G. Johnson Collection: A History and Selected Works, edited by Christopher D. M. Atkins. A Philadelphia Museum of Art free digital publication. ISBN 978-0-87633-276-4.
- Twohig, Edward (2018). Print REbels: Haden – Palmer – Whistler and the origins of the RE (Royal Society of Painter-Printmaker) by Edward Twohig RE. ISBN 978-1-5272-1775-1. Published by the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in London, in May 2018.
- Taylor, Hilary (1978). James McNeill Whistler. London: Studio Vista. ISBN 0-289-70836-2.
- Weintraub, Stanley (1974). Whistler: A Biography. New York: Weybright and Talley. ISBN 0-679-40099-0.
- Young, MacDonald, Spencer, Miles (1980). The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-02384-7.
enlaces externos
- 111 artworks by or after James Abbott McNeill Whistler at the Art UK site
- Works by James McNeill Whistler at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about James McNeill Whistler at Internet Archive
- Works by James Abbott McNeill Whistler at Open Library
- The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, Glasgow University Edited by M.F.MacDonald, P.de Montfort, N. Thorp.
- Catalogue raisonné of the etchings of James McNeill Whistler by M.F. MacDonald, G. Petri, M. Hausberg, J. Meacock.
- James McNeill Whistler: The Paintings, a Catalogue Raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2014 by M.F. MacDonald, G. Petri.
- James McNeill Whistler exhibition catalogs
- The Freer Gallery of Art which houses the premier collection of Whistler works including the Peacock Room.
- An account of the Whistler/Ruskin affair
- Whistler House Museum of Art official web site
- Works by James Abbott McNeill Whistler at University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Rudolf Wunderlich Collection of James McNeill Whistler Exhibition Catalogs at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art Texts on Wikisource:
- "James McNeill Whistler," poem by Florence Earle Coates
- "Whistler, James Abbott McNeill". The New Student's Reference Work. 1914.
- "Whistler, James Abbott McNeill". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
- The Whistler Society, London. Founded 2012.
- Jennifer A. Thompson, "Purple and Rose: The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (cat. 1112)" in The John G. Johnson Collection: A History and Selected Works, a Philadelphia Museum of Art free digital publication.