Brief Biography-James Abbot McNeill Whistler was born in Massachusetts. The family lived in St. Petersburg, Russia, while his father worked as an engineer on the railways for five years until they returned to America in 1848. After a failed spell in West Point, Whistler entered the Navy and picked up etching when doing cartography. This profession bored him, and he eventually set out for Paris in 1855.
Charles Gleyre admitted him to his studio. Whistler was not too interested in academicism but was more influenced by Degas and Courbet. He also learned from Fantin-Latour. The salon refused two of his paintings, and after four years, he moved to Chelsea, London. There he undertook his Thames etchings. Through his collection of Oriental chinaware, Japanese art influenced him after 1864. In London, he eventually became a success, and he associated with many leading artists, including Rossetti.
In 1878, he sued the art critic John Ruskin for an attack on his "Nocturne in Black and Gold" painting. Whistler won the case but only received one farthing damages. Nevertheless, the case gained him notoriety in London, and he published a pamphlet condemning critics before leaving for Venice. He returned to London in 1880 with an extensive series of etchings, all of which were published. Messer's Dowdeswell's Gallery exhibited many of his works from 1884 to 1886. He was named president of the Royal Society of British Artists until 1888, when the elders pushed him to resign.
In Paris, The Luxembourg Palace purchased his "Mother's Portrait," and he received the Légion d'Honneur in 1891. He spent several years in Paris before returning to London for his last years in Chelsea. His paintings had not only sold well in England, but many made their way over to America, where his rising reputation had reached.