Whistler, James Abbott McNeill, 1834-1903, American painter,
etcher, wit, and eccentric, b. Lowell, Mass. Whistler was
dismissed from West Point for insufficient knowledge of
chemistry and from the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, where he
had learned etching and map engraving, for erratic attendance.
In 1855 he went to Paris, where he acquired a lifelong
appreciation for the works of Velázquez and for Asian art,
particularly the Japanese print. From these sources he developed
a delicate sense of color and design evident in most of his
mature works. His early work was largely inspired by the realism
of Courbet. Settling in London in 1859, Whistler became known as
an etcher, a wit, and a dandy. The Little White Girl (National
Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.) brought him his first major
success in the Salon des Refusés (1863). To advertise and defend
his credo of art for art's sake, Whistler resorted to elaborate
exhibits, lectures, polemics, and more than one lawsuit. In
connection with his Falling Rocket: Noctu