James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born painter and printmaker who spent most of his career in London and Paris, becoming a central figure in the Aesthetic Movement with his belief in “art for art’s sake”; he is best remembered for Whistler’s Mother (1871), his tonal “nocturnes” and “arrangements” that emphasized harmony over narrative, his decorative masterpiece The Peacock Room, and his sharp wit that often led to clashes with critics such as John Ruskin, leaving a legacy as one of the most influential artists in shaping modern painting in England. 

Artist's Mother