James Abbott McNeill Whistler

1 portrait by Walter Greaves

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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James Abbott McNeill Whistler

by Walter Greaves
oil on canvas
35 1/4 in. x 28 in. (908 mm x 711 mm)
Purchased, 1966
Primary Collection
NPG 4497

Sitterback to top

Artistback to top

  • Walter Greaves (1846-1930), Painter. Artist or producer of 1 portrait, Sitter in 2 portraits.

This portraitback to top

Greaves, the son of a Chelsea boat builder, recalled how 'I lost my head over Whistler when I first met him and saw his paintings'. He became Whistler's boatman, studio assistant, and close friend for nearly twenty years until, around 1880, Whistler broke decisively with Greaves and his family. This is one of a number of portraits painted by Greaves of Whistler.

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Events of 1875back to top

Current affairs

Samuel Plimsoll, a back-bench Liberal MP, campaigns for measures to prevent the practice of overloading unseaworthy vessels and claiming insurance. The Plimsoll Line is established; a line drawn on ships, it denotes the maximum legal load a cargo ship is allowed to carry.
The Public Health Act, the work of Richard A. Cross, sets down in detail the responsibilities of local authorities in terms of public health.

Art and science

Anthony Trollope's masterpiece The Way We Live Now is published after serialisation. Containing over 100 chapters, the complex plot, following the fortunes of sham financier Augustus Melmotte, tackles the commercial, political and moral hypocrisy of the age.

International

Disraeli purchases nearly half the total shares in the Suez Canal Company from the bankrupt Egyptian Khedive, Ismail Pasha, securing a controlling interest in the trading route. Since Parliament was not in session at the time, Disraeli borrowed £4 million from the banking family Rothschilds, attracting much criticism from Parliamentary opponents, although he won popularity from the Queen and the public.

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