James Abbott Mcneil Whistler: Why Did They Offer?

James Abbott McNeil Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on July 17, 1834. Although American born, Whistler spent most of his childhood in St. Petersburg, Russia as his father was a civil engineer. “The young Whistler was prone to moody spells and fits of temper, and his mother noticed the only thing that would calm him was drawing” (Visualartscork.com). Because he showed great interest, at age 11 his mother enrolled him into the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. According to Denys Sutton, author of James McNeil Whistler, American Artist, by 1849, “his family was back in the States where he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point.” His father insisted he join, but he was not good at following commands. So he was tasked with making maps. His interest frayed and he ended up drawing mermaids and waves of the water. His passion for art simply could not hold him and he soon abandoned the army.

Whistler moved to Paris in 1855 to study painting where he befriended Gustave Corbet and Henri Fantin-Latour (Sutton).

Just two years before, Japan had reopened its boarders with Europe, unleashing waves of foreign imports. Silks, fans, kimonos and more sparked the wonder and imagination of Westerners and Europeans alike. According to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, “ the opening of the boarders not only reestablished diplomatic and mercantile relations between Japan and Europe, but also opened floodgates for cultural exchanges that would profoundly affect Western and European art.”
As seen throughout time, art was regarded as, “a mere medium of conveying history or teachings” (The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto). “Traditional” art was meant to uplift its audience. An artist was not considered so if he had no formal teaching. This title would come from attending the Academy, studying under a master, perfecting his style and integrating the morals and values of the time into your own

work.
In contrast to Europe, lacking flexibility in the scheme of art being to capture social, political or religious subjects of the time, “Japan was a country very much as regards to its arts and handicrafts… with wonderfully skilled artists and craftsmen in all manner of work at the decorative kind. Here, at last, was a living art of the people, in which traditions and craftsmanship were unbroken, full of attractive variety and naturalistic force” (Wichmann, pg. 8). As Japanese and Chinese culture spread throughout Europe, public knowledge of Far Eastern ways began to grow among the classes, not just being a luxury for the wealthy to indulge in. The middle, as in Whistler’s class, began to collect artifacts and centered them on Japanese porcelains, as cultural integration became the general norm and trend of the time.
The impact of Asian culture on European life led to “the establishment of teashops, such as La Porte Chinoise at 36 rues Vivienne, in Paris and it became commonplace for every Parisian store to have Chinese and Japanese departments” (Wichmann, pg. 9). These changes made it simple for artists to gain exposure to new forms of art. “It is said,” according to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “that Whistler discovered Japanese prints in a Chinese tearoom near London Bridge.”
Whistler started his artistic career copying Old Masters works at the Louvre in Paris. His introductory works were unsentimental and featured the use of black and white. Whistler also dabbled in etchings, which displayed early traces of Impressionism, and introduced his philosophy of tonal harmony. This technique limited his color pallet to certain colors.
The introduction of tonal harmony was partially derived from elements of Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints. As many European artists, Whistler was floored by the new perspective and technique of the Japanese. Arrangement, form, posture, texture and color were all elements that occurred throughout Japanese art. Even realism shifted. Whistler, overcome with wonder, decided to reevaluate the fundamentals that his schooling rested upon.
First, he began to explore the form of the body, referring to Japanese interpretations. He started with the kimono, since the craze among European women had gained popularity. The kimono sparked artist, and designer, interests because of the asymmetric patterns and brilliant sheen of the silks. According to Wichmann, “ his study of figures for “The Balcony” comes closer to a Japanese system of composition than the actual painting itself” (pg.21). He goes on to add, “ the tilt of the head, the long curve of the back, the bell-shaped line of the hem, are plainly borrowed from Japanese woodcuts” (Wichmann, pg. 19). This grouping of figures and interpretation of posture, standing or sitting, Whistler would use in other paintings.
Whistler seemed to be totally entranced by Japonisme. He expended his collection, gathering artifacts, porcelains, scrolls and silks.
William Michael Rossetti Recorded:
“It was through (James McNeil) Whistler that my brother and I became acquainted with Japanese woodcuts and colour-prints… He had purchased some specimens of those works in Paris, and he heartily delighted in them, and showed them to us. I hardly know that anyone in London had paid any attention to Japanese designs prior to this” (Wichmann, pg. 8).

Through his studies and collecting, Whistler’s paintings became subtle and sensitive. He even began to produce works that valued harmony between color, tone and composition “…using terminology such “symphony” or “arrangement” in his titles” (BBC.co.uk). Abstraction, another Japanese form, became more prevalent in his later works. “Falling Rocket” encompassed his fondness for the abstract and minimal use of color. It was “ a painting in which the subject of matter dissolves almost entirely into a complex interplay of colour and form” (Visualartscork.com). The painting was heavily criticized by John Ruskin, a well-known critic of the time, in which he accused Whistler of “ throwing a pot of paint in the public’s face.” He decided to take Ruskin to court where he challenged the mainstream ideas and conceptions of art, exploring how emotions could be evoked visually through the use of color, shape and tone; all abstract qualities. This is where his mantra “art for art’s sake” shined brilliantly. He not only won the case, but also made it possible for artist to break free from the social constraints that critics attached to art.
In sum, Whistler was an innovator. He truly believed that art was a means of expression for the artist and a source of enjoyment for its audience. He strove for higher knowledge “of a lifetime” and openly accepted additions of culture into his own. He educated himself on new and foreign topics and kept an open mind. He even shared his newfound passion with his peers, not to boast, but to pass on elements and principles that he thought would benefit them. He pioneered simplification through the use of simple form and plain colors. He had an ambitious vision of what art really was and what it shouldn’t be and shared it with the world.