DOI Heft:
No. 126 (September, 1903)
DOI Artikel:Baldry, Alfred Lys: James McNeill Whistler: His art and his influence
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19879#0253
James McNeill Whistler
was quite satisfied to exercise this faculty without At any rate, when he made his first appearance
ever attempting to digress into abstractions for as an exhibiting painter he had already decided
which intellectual rather than visual capacities upon the form of practice to which he adhered
would be required. It is on this ground that the with little or no modification for the rest of his
customary inclusion of him among the impressionists life. Actually, the first of his performances to
is to be justified ; his art may be defined as strictly come before the public were etchings, and of
a record of the impressions made upon him by his this fascinating art he soon showed himself to
surroundings, as the solution of problems set him be one of the ablest of modern exponents. The
by circumstances. His inspirations came to him plates which he published in Paris in 1858, and
by happy chance, but he had an infallible instinct the Thames etchings which he began to issue
for recognising what were his most useful oppor- soon after, his arrival in London in 1859, were
tunities, and he knew exactly how to turn them to welcomed as works of unusual significance and
the best account artistically. laid the foundation of his reputation as an etcher
It may be taken as certain that the essential —a reputation which even the severest critics of
characteristics of his work were not the result of his pictures have never ventured to dispute. But
any system of training to which he was subjected the verdict of art lovers in general and of artists in
in his youth. Born in 1834, or 1835, either in particular was by no means unanimous about the
Russia or America—there is some
uncertainty about both the date
and place—he came of an Ameri-
can branch of an old English
family which had its headquarters
in the fifteenth century near
Goring on the Thames. As so
many other artists have been, he
was the son of an engineer, so
that he presumably inherited the
constructive sense, which is one
of the most valuable corner-
stones in the equipment of an art
worker. At first there seems to
have been an idea that he should
follow a military career, for he
was educated at the United States
Military Academy at West Point :
but about 1855 or 1856 he was
employed in a Government
office as an engraver of maps
and charts. This work came to
an end, it is said, in consequence
of a quarrel with his superiors ;
and he then betook himself, in
1857, to Paris, where he entered
Gleyre's studio. By this master, a
sentimental classicist, he may have
been taught the grammar of paint-
ing, but he assuredly learned noth-
ing else from him. His choice of
direction was probably spontan-
eous, or possibly guided to some
extent by artists like Degas,
Fantin-Latour, and Bracquemond,
who were among his most intimate study in chalk, on brown paper by j. mcneill whistler
friends in his student days. (By permission of Mrs. L. Knowles)
238
was quite satisfied to exercise this faculty without At any rate, when he made his first appearance
ever attempting to digress into abstractions for as an exhibiting painter he had already decided
which intellectual rather than visual capacities upon the form of practice to which he adhered
would be required. It is on this ground that the with little or no modification for the rest of his
customary inclusion of him among the impressionists life. Actually, the first of his performances to
is to be justified ; his art may be defined as strictly come before the public were etchings, and of
a record of the impressions made upon him by his this fascinating art he soon showed himself to
surroundings, as the solution of problems set him be one of the ablest of modern exponents. The
by circumstances. His inspirations came to him plates which he published in Paris in 1858, and
by happy chance, but he had an infallible instinct the Thames etchings which he began to issue
for recognising what were his most useful oppor- soon after, his arrival in London in 1859, were
tunities, and he knew exactly how to turn them to welcomed as works of unusual significance and
the best account artistically. laid the foundation of his reputation as an etcher
It may be taken as certain that the essential —a reputation which even the severest critics of
characteristics of his work were not the result of his pictures have never ventured to dispute. But
any system of training to which he was subjected the verdict of art lovers in general and of artists in
in his youth. Born in 1834, or 1835, either in particular was by no means unanimous about the
Russia or America—there is some
uncertainty about both the date
and place—he came of an Ameri-
can branch of an old English
family which had its headquarters
in the fifteenth century near
Goring on the Thames. As so
many other artists have been, he
was the son of an engineer, so
that he presumably inherited the
constructive sense, which is one
of the most valuable corner-
stones in the equipment of an art
worker. At first there seems to
have been an idea that he should
follow a military career, for he
was educated at the United States
Military Academy at West Point :
but about 1855 or 1856 he was
employed in a Government
office as an engraver of maps
and charts. This work came to
an end, it is said, in consequence
of a quarrel with his superiors ;
and he then betook himself, in
1857, to Paris, where he entered
Gleyre's studio. By this master, a
sentimental classicist, he may have
been taught the grammar of paint-
ing, but he assuredly learned noth-
ing else from him. His choice of
direction was probably spontan-
eous, or possibly guided to some
extent by artists like Degas,
Fantin-Latour, and Bracquemond,
who were among his most intimate study in chalk, on brown paper by j. mcneill whistler
friends in his student days. (By permission of Mrs. L. Knowles)
238