James Abbott McNeill Whistler

1 portrait of James Abbott McNeill Whistler

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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James Abbott McNeill Whistler

by Percy Thomas, after James Abbott McNeill Whistler
etching, 1874
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D4997

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • Percy Thomas (1846-1922), Etcher. Artist or producer associated with 1 portrait.
  • James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Painter and etcher. Artist or producer associated with 4 portraits, Sitter in 15 portraits.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • Rideal, Liz, Insights: Self-portraits, 2005, p. 61 Read entry

    This print is based on Whistler’s Arrangement in Grey: Portrait of the Painter (c.1872; Detroit Institute of Arts). There are at least twenty different forms of his signature: here the butterfly motif occurs on a horizon line behind the artist. He repeats this format in Arrangement in Grey and Black, no.2: Thomas Carlyle (1872-3; Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries). Whistler’s first dated butterfly was drawn in 1869 and was derived from a monogram of his initials. Monogram signatures are more common than symbolic motifs, and became particularly fashionable with Art Nouveau artists o f the nineteenth century.

Events of 1874back to top

Current affairs

Disraeli becomes Prime Minister for the second time, winning the general election and giving the Conservative party its first absolute majority since the 1840s.
Professional opportunities for women develop, with the opening of the London School of Economics to women, the foundation of the London School of Medicine for Women and the Women's Protective and Provident League.

Art and science

The Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Printmakers, etc., including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Camille Pissarro organise an exhibition in Paris. Art critic Louis Leroy gives the group its name, criticising Monet's Impression, Sunrise for being merely an unfinished 'impression'. Impressionism becomes recognisable for techniques such as short, broken brushstrokes barely conveying forms, pure unblended colours, and an emphasis on the effects of light.

International

Britain annexes the Gold Coast, the region on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, now the independent nation of Ghana, following the second Ashanti war. The Treaty of Fomena secured massive financial reparations for the British, and strengthened their hold on the prosperous resources and trade routes in the regions. However, weakening the Ashanti tribe greatly destabilised the area.

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