James Abbott McNeill Whistler Biography

Painter (1834–1903)

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was a U.S.-born British painter who was highly influential in the late 19th century. His best-known work is “Whistler’s Mother.”

Synopsis

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was born on July 11, 1834, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He was educated in St. Petersburg, Russia, then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. Establishing himself as a painter in Paris and London, Whistler developed his distinctive style, utilizing muted colors and simple forms. His masterpiece is largely credited as “Whistler’s Mother” (“Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1”). Whistler died in 1903. His work later provided the inspiration for Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890).