R2. Please send detailed CVs to stafftoppersonnel. James Abbott Mc. Neill Whistler Wikipedia. James Abbott Mc. Neill Whistler. Born. James Abbott Whistler1. July 1. 0, 1. 83. Lowell, Massachusetts, USDied. July 1. 7, 1. 90. London, England, UKNationality. American. Education. United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. Known for. Painting. Notable work. Whistlers Mother. Movement. Founder of Tonalism. Awards. 18. 84, elected honorary member, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Lgion dhonneur, France. International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. James Abbott Mc. Neill Whistler July 1. July 1. 7, 1. 90. American artist, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He was averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, and was a leading proponent of the credo art for arts sake. His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail. The symbol was apt, for it combined both aspects of his personalityhis art was characterized by a subtle delicacy, while his public persona was combative. Finding a parallel between painting and music, Whistler entitled many of his paintings arrangements, harmonies, and nocturnes, emphasizing the primacy of tonal harmony. His most famous painting is Arrangement in Grey and Black No. Whistlers Mother, the revered and oft parodied portrait of motherhood. Whistler influenced the art world and the broader culture of his time with his artistic theories and his friendships with leading artists and writers. Early lifeeditNew EnglandeditJames Abbott Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on July 1. Anna Matilda Mc. Neill and George Washington Whistler. His father was a railroad engineer, and Anna was his second wife. James lived the first three years of his life in a modest house at 2. Worthen Street in Lowell. Today, the house is a museum dedicated to Whistler. During the Ruskin trial see below, Whistler claimed St. Petersburg, Russia, as his birthplace, declaring, I shall be born when and where I want, and I do not choose to be born in Lowell. In 1. Whistlers moved from Lowell to Stonington, Connecticut, where George Whistler worked for the Stonington Railroad. Sadly, during this period, three of George and Anna Whistlers children died in infancy. In 1. Whistlers fortunes improved considerably when George Whistler received the appointment that would make his fortune and fame that of chief engineer for the Boston Albany Railroad. Thus, the family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, then one of the United States most prosperous cities, where they constructed a mansion in a posh district. The Whistler Mansion, as it came to be known, stood at the corner of Chestnut and Edwards Streets in Springfield, where currently the Wood Museum of History stands. The Whistlers lived in Springfield until they left the United States in late 1. Nicholas I of Russia learned of George Whistlers ingenuity in engineering the Boston Albany Railroad, and offered Whistler a position in 1. St. Petersburg to Moscow. In the winter of 1. Whistlers moved from Springfield to St. Petersburg. 1. 4In later years, James Whistler played up his mothers connection to the American South and its roots, and presented himself as an impoverished Southern aristocrat although it remains unclear to what extent he truly sympathized with the Southern cause during the American Civil War. After her death, he adopted her maiden name, using it as an additional middle name. Young Whistler was a moody child prone to fits of temper and insolence, whoafter bouts of ill healthoften drifted into periods of laziness. His parents discovered in his early youth that drawing often settled him down and helped focus his attention. Russia and EnglandeditBeginning in 1. Russia. After moving to St. Petersburg to join his father a year later, the young Whistler took private art lessons, then enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts at age eleven. The young artist followed the traditional curriculum of drawing from plaster casts and occasional live models, reveled in the atmosphere of art talk with older peers, and pleased his parents with a first class mark in anatomy. In 1. 84. 4, he met the noted artist Sir William Allan, who came to Russia with a commission to paint a history of the life of Peter the Great. Whistlers mother noted in her diary, the great artist remarked to me Your little boy has uncommon genius, but do not urge him beyond his inclination. In 1. 84. 7 4. 8, his family spent some time in London with relatives, while his father stayed in Russia. Whistlers brother in law Francis Haden, a physician who was also an artist, spurred his interest in art and photography. Haden took Whistler to visit collectors and to lectures, and gave him a watercolor set with instruction. Whistler already was imagining an art career. He began to collect books on art and he studied other artists techniques. When his portrait was painted by Sir William Boxall in 1. Whistler exclaimed that the portrait was very much like me and a very fine picture. Mr. Boxall is a beautiful colouristIt is a beautiful creamy surface, and looks so rich. In his blossoming enthusiasm for art, at fifteen, he informed his father by letter of his future direction, I hope, dear father, you will not object to my choice. His father, however, died from cholera at the age of forty nine, and the Whistler family moved back to his mothers hometown of Pomfret, Connecticut. His art plans remained vague and his future uncertain. The family lived frugally and managed to get by on a limited income. His cousin reported that Whistler at that time was slight, with a pensive, delicate face, shaded by soft brown curlshe had a somewhat foreign appearance and manner, which, aided by natural abilities, made him very charming, even at that age. West PointeditWhistler was sent to Christ Church Hall School with his mothers hopes that he would become a minister. Whistler was seldom without his sketchbook and was popular with his classmates for his caricatures. However, it became clear that a career in religion did not suit him, so he applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where his father had taught drawing and other relatives had attended. He was admitted to the highly selective institution in July 1. However, during his three years there, his grades were barely satisfactory, and he was a sorry sight at drill and dress, known as Curly for his hair length which exceeded regulations. Whistler bucked authority, spouted sarcastic comments, and racked up demerits. Colonel Robert E Lee was the West Point Superintendent and, after considerable indulgence toward Whistler, he had no choice but to dismiss the young cadet. Whistlers major accomplishment at West Point was learning drawing and map making from American artist Robert W. Weir. His departure from West Point seems to have been precipitated by a failure in a chemistry exam where he was asked to describe silicon and began by saying, Silicon is a gas. As he himself put it later If silicon were a gas, I would have been a general one day. However, a separate anecdote suggests misconduct in drawing class as the reason for Whistlers departure. First jobeditAfter West Point, Whistler worked as draftsman mapping the entire U. S. coast for military and maritime purposes.