James McNeill Whistler

An American-born artist who remained an expatriate throughout most of his life, James McNeill Whistler was one of the most original and influential artists of his time. He was a leading figure in the aesthetic movement in America and Europe and an innovator whose quasi-abstract works and experimental techniques had a profound impact on the artists of his era. Whistler's tremendous contribution was acknowledged in 1907 by the American critic Charles Caffin who wrote, "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."

In his day, Whistler was as famous for his personality as for his art. He not only fit the characteristics of the nineteenth-century dandy, but he also helped to establish its definition. Standing only five feet, four inches high (1.62 meters) and often dressed outlandishly in outrageous colors and patent leather pumps, he affected a style of self conscious eccentricity, projected an aura of confident self-importance, and gave off a cultivated air of aesthetic arrogance. These qualities made him a figure of public scrutiny, controversy, and outrage throughout his career. A century before Andy Warhol broke down the line between art and the commercial media, Whistler understood the value of self-promotion, and his fame and that of his art followed from the stir that he created by shocking the audiences of his time. Known for his sharp wit, he often delighted his friends and followers with clever quips, but just as frequently he alienated them with biting attacks and rebuffs.

Although Whistler clearly enjoyed his notoriety and delighted in seeing his exchanges with other public figures such as the Anglo-Irish author Oscar Wilde repeated in the press, he was utterly serious about art and about his own work. In his "Ten O'clock Lecture" of 1885, he railed against the popular art of

32 Mille Finch on the Sofa, 1870