1872
oil
panel
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Portrait of Dr. William McNeill Whistler is a 1872 oil by James McNeill Whistler, a American Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
A man in a dark suit sits in a dim room, his face half-lit by soft light. His hands rest on a table, fingers loosely curled. The background fades into shadow. This is Whistler’s brother, a doctor who served in the Confederate Army. The painting was done in London, where both brothers lived after the Civil War. The quiet mood comes from *chiaroscuro*—a technique where light and dark create depth without sharp lines. If you like this, look up *chiaroscuro* to see how other artists used it.
Born in Massachusetts, James McNeill Whistler lived all of his adult life in Europe, working in artistic centers such as Paris, London, and Venice. Whistler painted this portrait of his brother William in London, where both of them then lived; the artist had established a studio there in 1859. Having served as a medical officer for the Confederate Army, Dr. William McNeill Whistler moved to the city after the Civil War and was a respected physician. Whistler modeled his brother’s face with some degree of detail, yet also employed broad brushstrokes of thinly applied paint to merely suggest…
c. 1873-February 27, 1900, probably William McNeil Whistler, London (gift from the artist); February 27, 1900-unknown, Mrs. William McNeill Whistler, his widow, London. Unknown-October 19, 1918, Burton Mansfield, New Haven, Conneticut; October 19, 1918-January 28, 1919, Vose Galleries, Boston; January 28, 1919-unknown, William T. Cresmer, Chicago. Dates unknown, Anderson Art Galleries, Chicago. Unknown-December 22, 1935, Mrs. Moses J. Wentworth, Chicago; December 22, 1935-June 20, 1958, Mr. and Mrs. John Wentworth, Chicago; June 20, 1958-July 1977, Mrs. John Wentworth, Chicago and Paris; July…
London, New Gallery, Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late J. McNeill Whistler, First President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers , Feb. 22–Mar. 31, 1905, cat. 103 (organized by the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers). Pittsburgh, Carnegie Institute of Arts, Loan Exhibition of Paintings in Oil, Water Color, and Pastel, from the Collection of Mr. Burton Mansfield, of New Haven, Connecticut , Aug. 1–Dec. 30, 1911, cat. 71. Art Institute of Chicago, James McNeill Whistler , Jan. 13–Feb. 25, 1968, cat. 18, as Portrait of Dr. William…
Read the full account in the museum source.
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom.
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