James Abbott McNeill Whistler
1834-1903

Born in Massachusetts, Whistler studied art at Paris and was initially accepted by the Royal Academy, but later branded by the same institution as an outlaw. He was influenced by Japanese art and frequently used musical terms for his paintings.

In 1877, Whistler brought a libel action against John Ruskin, an important critic, for condemning Whistler's picture The Falling Rocket, a Nocturne in Black and Gold as nothing more than a "pot of paint" flung in the public's face. Whistler was awarded a mere farthing in damages, and the court costs left him penniless.

Tremendously successful during his time, he was the recipient of many foreign honours, and exerted immense influence on contemporary art. He served as president of the Society of British Artists from 1886-1888 and later as president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Engravers from 1898 until his death.

Whistler was a particularly controversial character - he came to refer to himself as "The Master" and frequently drove friends and followers away. He gathered the accounts of his public battles with various former friends and acquaintances gathered together in an 1890 volume titled, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies: As Pleasingly Exemplified in Many Instances, Wherein the Serious Ones of This Earth, Carefully Exasperated, Have Been Prettily Spurred on to Unseemliness and Indiscretion, While Overcome by an Undue Sense of Right.

Colbeck bought this copy of Mr. Whistler's "Ten O'Clock," displayed on the right, in the residence of Francis James at Oare, Hastings some time after his death. James was a notable water-colour artist friend of Whistler, one of the few with whom Whistler never quarrelled.