-4 ART LIBRARY Appendix 7 State Library Bulletin BIBLIOGRAPHY No. 1 May 1895 13 GUIDE TO THE STUDY OP JAMES ABBOTT McNEILL WHISTLER COMPILED BY Walter Greenwood Forsyth AND Joseph Le Roy Harrison LIBRARY SCHOOL READING SEMINAR, 1893 PAGE Salient points in Whistler's life 3 Personality 5 "Works : Etchings 5 Sets 8 PAGE Paintings 9 Books 10 School 10 Criticism H References 13 hat/ „ ) University of the State of New York State Library Bulletin Bibliography No. 1 May 1895 JAMES ABBOTT McNEILL WHISTLER SALIENT POINTS IN HIS LIKE Whistler was born, according to his own statement, in St Peters- burg, Russia, of American parents ; according to Champlin's Cyclopedia of painters and paintings, Lippincott's Biographical dictionary and Appleton's Cyclopedia of American biography in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1834. Mr Theodore Child in his article in Harper's magazine of September, 1889, gives the artist's birth- place as Baltimore, and a personal friend declares that he was born in Stonington, Connecticut. It is said that Whistler delights in keeping up the mystery of his nativity. His father was Major George Washington Whistler, an engineer of wide reputation. His mother was Anna Matilda McNeill, a daughter of Dr C. D. McNeill, of Wilmington, N. C. Several years of Whistler's early youth were spent in Russia ; his father, in 1842, having accepted the invitation of Emperor Nicholas to superintend the construction of the St Petersburg and Moscow railroad. Young Whistler came to America shortly after his father's death in St Petersburg, in April, 1849. In 1851, at the age of 16 years and 11 months, he entered the United States military academy, at West Point, receiving his appointment as a delegate at large from President Fillmore. His career at the academy was unsuccessful. At the end of his first year his rank was 42 in a class of 60. In his second year he was absent on account of ill health, and was examined in only one subject, drawing, in which he obtained the highest possible mark. At the June examinations, 1854, his third year, he was found deficient, and recommended for discharge. Throughout the three years of his course Whistler's name appears in the West Point 4 GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF J. A. M. WHISTLER Register very near the foot of the general demerit and conduct rolls of his class. It is not without interest to note that Major Marcus A. Reno, who was dismissed from the United States army in 1880, owing to the official censure of his conduct during the Custer expedition of 1876 against the Sioux Indians, was one of Whistler's classmates. In less than two years after leaving West Point, Whistler went to England, to remain, however, only for a short time. In 1856, he was settled in Paris and hard at work in the studio of the famous genre painter, Charles Gabriel Gleyre, where he remained for two years and where he began in earnest his life's work. Among his fellow students were George Du Maimer, Mr Armstrong and Edward John Poynter, R. A., author of the much discussed painting, Diadumene. In 1859 and 1860, Whistler's paintings were refused at the Paris salon. Whistler settled in London in 1863, taking up his residence on the Embankment, and beginning at once to draw his subjects from scenes most nearly at hand, the life of the Thames. It was in this same year, 1863, that he made a second attempt to have his pictures hung in the Paris salon. They were rejected, but the Salon des Refuses accepted them, thereby enabling him to appeal against the judgment of the critics who had refused him recognition. Among the accepted pictures was the White girl. It did more for Whistler than make a sensation. It caused Paris to speak of him as one of the " original " artists of the day. In 1877, Whistler exhibited a collection of his works at the Grosvenor gallery, London, on invitation of its owner, Sir Coutts Lindsay. In November, 1878, Whistler brought suit against Ruskin on the ground that Ruskin had libeled him in a criticism on one of his pictures exhibited at the Grosvenor gallery, called A nocturne in black and gold ; a night view of Cremorne, with fireworks. The criticism complained of appeared in Fors Clavigera, and is as follows : " For Mr Whistler's own sake, no less than for the protection of the purchaser, Sir Coutts Lindsay ought not to have admitted works into the gallery in which the ill educated conceit of the artist so All IS UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 5 nearly approached the aspect of wilful imposture. I have seen and heard much of cockney impudence before now, but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask 200 guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face." Whistler claimed that this criticism had injured the sale of his paintings; Ruskin that it was simply a fair and bonajide criticism on a painting which the plaintiff had exposed for public view. The jury rendered a verdict against Ruskin, and placed the dam- ages at one farthing. In 18S6 Whistler was made president of the Society of British artists. On January 30, 1892, he was created an officer of the Legion of Honor by the French government. Whistler has now, 1892, deserted England as he did America, and spends most of his time in Paris, where he receives more atten- tion and where his works are more favorably criticized than in any other of the great art centers.' PERSONALITY Mr Whistler has always an electric manner, one feels it at once. It is specially notable when he is standing at his easel w T ith brain, hand and eye all working in perfect sympathy, inspired by the joy and difficulty of his art. — Illustrated news, Apr. 9, 1892, p. 348 He is a harum scarum genius ; keeps none of his work, makes no records, gives no help to any one who wants to help him ; generally makes no answers to letters. . . . for I had hoped ... to have listened to his delightful talk, which, though gay, witty and alert, is always simple, serious and dignified when referring to the art he loves so well and prac- tises with so sure a mastery. — Illustrated news, Apr. 9, 1892, p. 348 WORKS Etchings (arranged, as far as known, chronologically) 1 Early portrait of Whistler, 1857 (?) 7 Unsafe tenement 2 Annie Haden, 1857 (?) 8 Dog on the kennel 3 Dutchman holding the glass 9 La Mere Gerard 4 Liverdun (Near Toul, in Lorraine) 10 La Mere Gerard stooping 5 La Re fameuse 11 Street at Saverne 6 En plein soleil 12 Gretchen at Heidelberg U.C.LA. Arts LlbrarV GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF J. A. M. WHISTLER 13 Little Arthur 14 La Vieille aux Loques 15 Annie 16 La niarchande de inoutarde 17 The rag gatherers 18 Fumette 19 The kitchen 20 Title to the French set, 1858 21 Auguste Delatre 22 A little boy (Portrait of Seymour Haden, the younger) 23 Seymour 24 Annie; seated 25 Reading by lamplight 26 The music room 27 Soupe a trois sous 28 Bibi Valentin, 1859 29 Reading in bed 30 Bibi Lalouette, 1859 31 The wine glass 32 Greenwich pensioner, 1859 33 Greenwich park 34 Nursemaid and child 35 Thames warehouses, from Thames tunnel pier, 1859 36 Westminster bridge, 1859 37 Limehouse, 1859 38 A whark (Unfinished sketch) 39 Tyzac, Whiteley and co., 1859 40 Black Lion wharf, 1859 41 The pool, 1859 42 Thames police, 1859 43 Long-shore men, 1859 44 The lime burner, 1859 45 Billingsgate, 1859 46 Landscape with the horse, 1859 47 Arthur Seymour (Arthur Sey- mour Haden) 48 Becquet (Known also as "The fiddler") 49 Astruc, a literary man, 1859 This etching is the dry point portrait often known as "Davis " 50 Fumette standing, 1859 51 Fumette's bent head 52 Whistler (the artist), 1859 53 Drouet, 1859 54 Finette (A public dancer) 55 Paris: the Isle de la Cite, 1859 (View looking along the Seine) 56 Venus, 1859 57 Annie Haden, 1860 58 Mr Mann, 1860 59 Sketch at Limehouse (Unfinished) 60 Rotherhithe 61 Axenfeld, 1860 62 The engraver, 1860 63 The forge, 1861 64 Joe, 1861 65 The miser 66 Vauxhall bridge, 1861 67 Millbank, 1861 68 The punt, 1861 69 Sketching 70 Westminster bridge in progress (Unfinished) 1861 71 Little Wapping, 1861 72 The little pool, 1861 73 Tiny pool 74 Ratcliffe highway 75 Encamping, 1861 76 Ross Winans 77 The Storm, 1861 78 Little Smithfield 79 Codogan pier Called "Early morning, Battersea" 80 Old Hungerford bridge 81 Chelsea wharf, 1863 82 Amsterdam; etched from the Tol- huis, 1863 83 Weary, 1863 84 Shipping at Liverpool, 1867 85 Chelsea bridge and church 86 Speke hall, 1870 87 Model resting, 1870 88 Whistler's mother 89 Swan brewery, 1872 90 Fosco, 1872 91 Velvet dress (Portrait of Mrs Ley- land) 1873 92 Little velvet dress, 1873 93 F. R. Leyland 94 Fanny Leyland, 1873 95 Elinor Leyland 96 Florence Leyland 97 Reading a book 98 Tatting 99 Maude 100 Maude, seated, 1873 101 The beach, 1873 UNIVEKSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 102 Tillie: a model, 1873 147 103 Seated girl 148 104 The desk (Unfinished) 149 105 Resting 150 106 Agnes 151 107 Model lying down 152 108 Two sketches 153 109 The boy 154 110 Swinburne (Algernon Charles Swin- 155 burne, the poet) 156 111 A lady at a window 157 112 Child on a couch 158 113 Sketch of a girl; nude 159 114 Steamboats off the tower 160 115 The little forge, 1875 161 116 Two ships, 1875 162 117 The piano 163 118 Scotch widow, 1875 164 119 Speke shore 165 120 Dam Wood, 1875 166 121 Shipbuilder's yard, 1875 167 122 Guitar player (Portrait of Ridley, 168 the artist) 169 123 London bridge 170 124 Price's caudle works 171 125 Battersea; dawn 172 126 The muff 173 127 Sketch of ships 174 128 Riverside sketch (Unfinished) 175 129 The troubled Thames 176 130' Sketch from Billingsgate 177 131 Fishing-boats, Hastings, 1877 178 132 Wych street, 1877 179 133 Temple Bar 180 134 Free trade wharf, 1877 181 Sometimes called the Little limehouse 182 135 Thames towards Erith 183 136 Lindsay houses, 1878 184 137 From Pickled Herring Stairs 185 138 Lord Wolseley 186 139 Irving as Charles First 187 From the painting of the same subject 188 140 St James street 189 141 Under Battersea bridge 190 142 Whistler, with the white lock, 1879 191 143 The large pool, 1879 192 144 The "Adam and Eve; " Old Chelsea 193 145 Putney bridge 194 146 The Little Putney, 1879 195 Hurlingham Fulham The little Venice, 1880 Nocturne The little mast The little lagoon The palaces The doorway The piazzetta The traghetto The riva Two doorways The beggars The mast Doorway and vine Wheelwright San Biagio Bead stringers Turkeys Fruit stall San Giorgio Nocturne palaces Long lagoon Temple The bridge Upright Venice Little court Lobster pots The riva; number two Drury lane The balcony Fishing-boat Ponte Piovan Garden The Rialto Long Venice Furnace nocturne Quiet canal Salute; dawn Lagoon; noon Murano; glass furnace Fish shop; Venice The dyer Little salute Wool-carders Regent's quadrant Islands Nocturne: shipping Old women 8 GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF J. A. M. WHISTLEK 196 Alderney street 206 The seamstress 197 The smithy 207 Sketch in St James's park 198 Stables 208 A fragment of Piccadilly, 1885 199 Nocturne: salute- 209 Old clothes shop 200 Dordrecht 210 Fruit shop 201 A corner of the Palais royal 211 Sketch on the Embankment 202 Sketch at Dieppe 212 The Menpes children 203 A booth at a fair 213 The steps 204 Cottage door 214 Fish shop, Chelsea 205 Village sweet shop 215 Zaandam This list of etchings is taken from Mr Wedmore's catalog, which was kindly loaned for the purpose by Mr S. P. Avery, of New York city. The catalog supplies almost a complete list of "Whistler's etchings from 1857, when, as a young man in Paris, he issued his first plate, to 1886, and is an invaluable aid to the collector or student of Whistler. It gives under each subject a full description of the etching, as far as possible the date of its execution, size, exact signature, and other means of identification, proofs and impressions, rarity, etc. Mr Wedmore's catalog is also an excellent guide to Mr Avery's Whistler collection, which contains all the etchings mentioned in it, except nos. 56, 88, 93, 97, 99, 104-11, 113, 119, 127, 129, 133, 138, 139, 189, 191, 191, 198, 202, 204, 205, 207, 210-12, and 214. Collections of Whistler's etchings hang in the Queen's library at Windsor and in the British museum. Sets Whistler is the author of four series of plates, known as the French set, Thames set, Venice set, first series and Venice set, second series. The works which make up these sets are as follows : French set, 13 etchings, 1858, printed by Delatre, Paris : Liverdun La vieille aux loques La Re fameuse Annie En plein soleil La marchande de moutarde Unsafe tenement The kitchen La Mere Gerard Title to the French set Street at Saverne Auguste Delatre Little Arthur Thames set, 16 etchings, publicly issued in 1871 (printing not successful) : Thames warehouses, from the Thames Westminster bridge tunnel pier Limehouse UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 9 Tyzac, Whiteley and co. Black Lion wharf The pool Thames police The lime burner Becquet Rotherhithe The forge Millbank The little pool Codogan pier Old Hungerford bridge Chelsea bridge and church Venice set, first series, 12 etchings, 1880, issued by the Fine art society : The little Venice Nocturne The little mast The little lagoon The palaces The doorway The piazzetta The traghetto The riva Two doorways The beggars The mast Venice set, second series, 26 etchings, 21 Venetian subjects, five English subjects, 1886, issued by Dowdeswell : Lobster pots The riva, number two Drury lane The balcony Fishing boat Ponte Piovan Garden Doorway and vine Wheelwright San Biagio Bead stringers Turkeys Fruit stall San Giorgio Nocturne palaces Long lagoon Temple The bridge Upright Venice Little court The Rialto Long Venice Furnace nocturne Quiet canal Salute ; dawn Lagoon ; noon Paintings Great fire wheel, 1883 Harmony in amber and black At the piano, 1867 Harmony in brown and black, 1884 The balcony: arrangement in flesh color A Japonaiserie: caprice in purple and The angry sea Arrangement in brown and green. No. 2 Blue girl, 1882 The blue wave; Biarritz Coast of Brittany, 1863 Entrance to Southampton water, 1882 The falling rocket gold Lange Leizen — of the six marks; an arrangement of Japanese drapery and china Last of Old Westminster, 1863 Little Sweetstuff shop: note in orange Fragment of old Battersea bridge by Little white girl moonlight: nocturne in blue and Night view of Cremorne, with fireworks: silver, 1882 nocturne in black and gold Gold girl, 1878 Nocturne in black and silver 10 GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF J. A. M. WHISTLER Nocturne in blue and gold, 1878 Portrait of my mother: arrangement in Nocturne in blue and green, 1878 gray and black, 1872 Nocturne with the falling rocket Portrait of Sefior Pablo Sarasate: ar- Nocturne with Valparaiso harbour rangement in black The Pacific: arrangement in gray and Portrait of Miss Spartali in a Japanese green costume Portrait of Miss Alexander: harmony Portrait of Ross Whistler, 1862 in gray and green, 1888 Portrait of Thomas D. Whistler, 1862 Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell: Portrait of himself arrangement in black, 1888 Princesse du pays de la porcelaine, 1865 Portrait of Thomas Carlyle: arrange- St Mark's, Venice; blue and gold ment in black and gray, 1872 Sea and rain Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder: arrange- Symphony in white, No. 3 ment in brown and black View of the river at Chelsea; blue and Portrait of Henry Irving as Philip 2, of silver Spain: arrangement in black Westminster bridge, 1863 Portrait of Lady Meux White girl, 1862 Of the paintings mentioned, the Arrangement in brown, Frag- ment of Old Battersea bridge, Harmony in amber and black, Night view of Cremorne, Nocturne in blue and gold, Portrait of Carlyle and Portrait of Irving were exhibited at the Grosvenor gallery ; Portrait of my mother and At the piano, at the Royal academy ; the Portrait of Carlyle, Portrait of my mother and Princesse du pays de la porcelaine, at the Paris salon, and the Portrait of Miss Alexander and the Portrait of Lady Campbell, at Munich. The balcony was exhibited at the Paris universal exhibition of 1SS9, and the White girl at the Salon des Refuses. Whistler has also exhib- ited his works in the Dudley gallery and at the Hague, where he was awarded a gold medal. The Portrait of my mother was recently purchased by the Lux- embourg gallery, Paris, and the Portrait of Carlyle, by the corpo- ration of Glasgow. Books Ten o'clock. Boston, 1888 I The gentle art of making enemies I New York, 1890 SCHOOL It is almost impossible to class Mr Whistler with any particular school. " His work "... says Mr Brownell, "is . . . now accepted as typical, and made to stand for a class of art, or at least a manner of painting, of which the friends and foes are ardent and fluent." What this class is it is hard to say. He is most nearly UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 11 associated, perhaps, with the impressionist school, yet he is not an impressionist in the strict sense of the word. ' ; The impressionists," says Mr Hamerton, " are a new sect, com- posed, as all new sects in painting invariably are, of young men who have not yet definitely formed their styles. . . They go to nature and receive an impression . . . and the purpose of their art is to render the impression as a whole, without either the pain- ful study of parts or any scientific arrangement of material." " In other words," quoting Mr Brownell again, " impressionism implies, first of all, impatience of detail. And, so far, Mr Whistler may justly be called an impressionist. . . But to associate him with a new sect, composed of young men who have not yet definitely formed their style, would be absurd ; and an intimation that his works are lacking in the study of parts or arrangement of material, would be false." criticism: Perhaps the most typical painter and the most absolute artist of the time. — Scribner's monthly, 18 :195 His etchings are universally praised ; but his paintings are both abused and admired. — International cyclopaedia Nothing can be more foreign to his art then set purposes ; the song of a bird is not more absolutely unconscious. — Scribner's monthly, IS : 1S8 It would be difficult to find a better example of a pure painter, a painter to whom art is so distinct a thing in itself, and so unre- lated to anything else. — Scribner's monthly, 18 : 187 Mr Whistler's etchings attract a good deal of attention, and differ from his paintings in meriting it. They display a free hand and a keen eye for effect. Three of the oil pictures are blurred, foggy, and imperfect marine pieces. The fourth is called the " White girl," and represents a powerful female with red hair, and a vacant stare in her soulless eyes. She is standing on a wolfskin hearthrug, for what reason is unrecorded. The picture evidently means vastly more than it expresses, albeit expressing too much. Notwithstand- ing an obvious want of purpose, there is some boldness in the hand- ling and a singularity in the glare of the colors which can not fail to divert the eye, and to weary it. — H. T. Tuckerman, Book of the Artists, p. 185 12 GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF J. A. M. WHISTLER The qualities of few painters are so distinct, and indeed one is tempted to say aggressive. Every one will perceive in his slightest etching an effectiveness, an impressiveness, a form which may or may not justly be called eccentric, but which it is impossible not to recognize as original. — Scribner's monthly, 18 :4S6 One can scarcely be as admirable in all ways as Mr Whistler is, and still touch the highest point in any one way. — Scribner's monthly, 18:495 Mr Whistler, in prose, is always pungent. Mr Whistler, in art, is always suggestive in more ways than one. — New York tribune, Mar. 20, 1892, p. 14, col. 6 Mr Whistler's snggestiveness is felt in the moods which his etchings call up. It is this expressiveness, this going directly to the core of the subject, this giving its fullest meaning to every line laid on the copper, which discloses in Mr Whistler's best work his affinity with Rembrandt and shows him to be an artist quickly responsive to human feeling. — S. R. Koehler, Etching, p. 162 For with Mr Whistler's equipment, and energy and genius, the surprising thing about him is that there should be any discussion concerning his position as a painter, that he should not have vindi- cated his ability by something of unmistakably large importance. — Scribner's monthly, 18 : 495 And the nature of his ideal is singularly pure and high. It is this which, after all, finally measures an artist, the character of his ideal, his attitude toward absolute beauty, his conception of what is best in the visible world and the world that is to be divined. — Scribner's monthly, 18 : 488 Portrait of his mother. In the latter of the two portraits to which I have already referred (that of his mother), there is an expression of living character, an intensity of pathetic power, which gives to that noble work something of the impressiveness proper to a tragic or elegiac poem. — A. C. Swinburne, Fortnightly review, 49 : 745 White girl. The White girl is certainly a lovely picture, but its loveliness has a marked individuality. Nothing could be more delightful than the simplicity and delicacy of line and hue of this figure, nothing more graceful than her attitude, or more subtly charming than the broad harmonies worked out by the dark hair UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 13 and the lily, the white drapery, and the soft fur upon which she stands. On the other hand, no one can fail to note the sense of character which pervades its loveliness, and to observe how its individuality is quite as strong as its beauty is charming. — W. C. Brownell, Scribner's monthly, 18 : 190 REFERENCES The books and magazines referred to can be found in the New York state library, except those starred. In references to periodicals, volume and page are separated by a colon; e. g. 3: 144-53 means vol. 3, beginning on page 144, ending on page 153. Academy 23 : 139. *American architect 22 : 258. Annual register 1878, pt. 2, p. 215. Art journal 41 : 18 (Jan. 1879) ; 41 : 63 (Apr. 1879) ; 49 : 97 (Apr. 1887) illus. ; 54 : 132-35 (May 1892) illus. ; 55 : 88-93 (March 1893) illus. Champlin, J. D. Cyclopedia of painters and painting, p. 427, illus. Critic, Feb. 6, 1892, p. 91. Eclectic magazine III : 154. Fortnightly review 49 : 745 ; Apr. 1892, p. 543. *Gazette des beaux arts 23 : 365 (1881) ; 25 : 620 (1882) ; 29 : 484-534 (1884). *Hamerton, P. G. Etching and etchers, p. 288-93. Harper's magazine 79:489 (Sept. 1889) illus. Theodore Child. American artists at the Paris exhibition. ^Illustrated news, Apr. 9, 1892, p. 348, illus. Knowledge 3 : 208. Koehler, S. P. Etching, p. 162, illus. *(Les) lettres et les arts, 1888. Theodore Duret. Magazine of art 8:468, illus. ; April 1893, p. 181-86, illus. Nation 51:115 (Aug. 7, 1890); 54:90 (Feb. 4,1892); 54:280 (Apr. 14, 1892). New York tribune Mar. 8, 1885, p. 3, col. 2 ; Oct. 12, 1886, p. 1, col. 2; Jan. 17, 1889, p. 6, col. 4; Feb. 25, 1889, p. 2, col. 5; Mar. 13, 1889, p. 6, col. 6; Jan. 17, 1892; Jan. 24, 1892; Mar. 20, 1892, p. 14, col. 6. Portfolio 9 : 8 (1878) illus. ; 18 : 61 (1887) ; 23 : 88 (1892). 14 GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF J. A. M. WHISTLER Saturday review 46 : 687 ; 55 : 241 ; 65 : 621. Scribner's monthly 18 : 481 (Aug. 1879), illus. W : C. Brownell. Whistler in painting and etching. *Thomas, Ralph. Catalog of Whistler's etchings, 1874. (Superseded by Wedmore's catalog.) Tuckerman, H. T. Book of the artists, p. 485. *Vose, George L. Sketch of the life and works of George W. Whistler. *Wedmore, Frederick. Whistler's etchings, a study and a catalog. London, 1886. Limited to 140 copies; the first 14 on very large paper. * Four masters of etching.- Westminster review 130 : 202. UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY A A OOO 160 349 T University of California, Los Angeles L 007 298 377 8 APR 2 3 1959 LIBRARY GOVT. PUBS, room