Art Guide · Painters
James McNeill Whistler
1834–1903
James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) was the American painter who composed his pictures like music, as “arrangements” and “nocturnes”. His most famous work is Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 (1871), known as “Whistler’s Mother”.
Last updated: · Iconica Society editors
Life and work
Born in Massachusetts, he spent part of his childhood in Russia and, after training in Paris, settled in London. He championed “art for art’s sake”. When the critic John Ruskin savaged one of his paintings in 1877, Whistler sued him for libel; he won, but was awarded just one farthing in damages.
Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 shows the painter’s mother Anna in profile with a restricted palette; Whistler insisted it was an arrangement of tone and form more than a portrait. It is now in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Whistler’s Mother?
In the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.