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James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 11, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American artist, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He was averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, and 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 is characterized 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 is Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), commonly known as Whistler's Mother, the revered and often 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.
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Read full Wikipedia entryArtworks
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Chelsea
1871
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Old Battersea Bridge
c.1872–5
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl
1864
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel
1875
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander
1872–4
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Crepuscule in Flesh Colour and Green: Valparaiso
1866
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights
1872
James Abbott McNeill Whistler Three Figures: Pink and Grey
1868–78
Artist as subject
Sir William Nicholson James McNeill Whistler
1899
Gary Hume Whistler
1998
Sir Max Beerbohm Blue China
1916
Stanhope Alexander Forbes, recipient: Elizabeth Forbes Letter from Stanhope Forbes to Elizabeth Armstrong, addressed 11 Elgin Avenue, London
27 April 1887
Stanhope Alexander Forbes, recipient: Elizabeth Forbes Letter from Stanhope Forbes to Elizabeth Armstrong, addressed 11 Elgin Avenue, London
13 April 1888
Ben Nicholson OM Copy of a typescript with the heading, ‘William Nicholson’
March 1967
Walter Richard Sickert, recipient: Ethel Sands Letter from Walter Sickert to Ethel Sands, addressed 26 Red Lion Square, London
[August–September 1915]
Walter Richard Sickert, recipient: Ethel Sands Letter from Walter Sickert to Ethel Sands
[c.July–August 1915]
Walter Richard Sickert, recipient: Ethel Sands Letter from Walter Sickert to Ethel Sands, addressed The Lodge, Entry Hill, Bath
[c.1918]
Film and audio
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Art Term
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The lightness or darkness of something – this could be a shade, or how dark or light a colour appears
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