Whistler: A Life for Art's Sake – March 4, 2014

Whistler: A Life for Art's Sake – March 4, 2014

Author: Daniel E. Sutherland | Language: English | ISBN: 0300203462 | Format: PDF

Whistler: A Life for Art's Sake – March 4, 2014 Description

Review

"Immensely readable. . . a lively addition to the understanding of this difficult and important American artist."—Kirkus Reviews

(Kirkus Reviews)

“We can salute Sutherland’s pluck and determination in reprising a beguiling subject who remains as elusive as the butterfly he took as his monogram.”—Tanya Harrod, Literary Review

(Tanya Harrod Literary Review 2014-02-01)

“All that matters about Whistler is his art. On that, Sutherland writes with sensitivity and deep knowledge, and he makes you eager to go and see the pictures for yourself. Whistler would not have asked for anything more."—John Carey, The Sunday Times (John Carey The Sunday Times 2014-02-16)

"Sutherland's account. . .is unobtrusively scholarly and he is a sensible explainer of the work, accessible and illuminating to the general reader. We get three thick wodges of plates, so the paintings are on hand. He knew everybody, learned what he needed to learn and became singular. Sutherland deftly explains how." —Sam Leith, The Spectator (Sam Leith The Spectator 2014-02-22)

“[Sutherland] has delved into the artist’s correspondence as well as scores of archives to forge a lucid account of what by any standards was an unruly, restless life. . . This biography does much to illuminate Whistler’s career, showing up the public man, the tireless self-promoter, with his rough-and-tumble engagement with the art world of his day.”—Mark Thomas, The Daily Telegraph

(Mark Thomas The Daily Telegraph 2014-02-22)

“This is the story of a true bohemian.”—Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times (Rachel Campbell-Johnston The Times 2014-02-22)

“Sutherland wants to get behind the Whistler myth and reveal what he calls the ‘covert myth’ – that is, the inner life of this enigmatic man. In order to this, he has provided a well-written and dramatic story.”—J. B. Bullen, Apollo Magazine

(J. B. Bullen Apollo Magazine 2014-03-01)

“Daniel Sutherland, a professor of history at the University of Arkansas, has given us a warts-and-all portrait of Whistler, the man, the work and his times.”—A.N.Wilson, The Financial Times (A. N. Wilson Financial Times 2014-02-22)

About the Author

Daniel E. Sutherland is Distinguished Professor of History, University of Arkansas. The recipient of more than fifty awards, honors, and grants, he is best known for his acclaimed series of books chronicling nineteenth-century America.

• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• Hardcover: 440 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (March 4, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300203462
• ISBN-13: 978-0300203462
• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 6.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

James Abbot Whistler (he would add his mother’s maiden of McNeill later in his life) was born in the busy mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1834 (though he would come to deny that place of birth in an attempt to remove, “the taint of Lowell” from his life when writing his biographical sketch for the American Who’s Who) to a mother whose family came from the plebeian North Carolina, (something else Whistler would deny stating that his mother’s family came from the aristocratic South Carolina).
His father George Washington Whistler was a West Point graduate and that U.S. Military Academy made him an engineer. His excellence in the field of railroad engineering brought him to the attention of Tsar Nicholas I who hired him to build a railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The young Whistler spent five years in Russia and during that time his love of art bloomed. The renowned artist Sir William Allan, who was in Russia to paint the history of Peter the Great, told Whistler’s mother that her son had an “uncommon genius”.
This ‘genius’ went on to become arguably one of the most influential painters of the 19th century. Whistler was influenced over the years by many artists, notably Velasquez and Courbet, and was also influenced by Courbet’s Realism and especially Oriental art which continued to fascinate him throughout his whole life. His style of realism became known as Naturalism. However, over the years he easily moved through different styles of art and also through different mediums of art becoming an expert and an innovator in anything he done. Walter Sickert declared to a friend, “Such a man! The only painter alive who has first immense genius, then conscientious persistent work striving after his ideal”.

First I must record that there are some good things about this new biography of James McNeill Whistler, but sadly not that many. The 100 plus photographs are one [rare in a book of this type, so congratulations Yale University Press], as are the page notes and the accessible index.
After that,however, the biographical and literary struggle begins in earnest for the reader.
The author Daniel E. Sutherland sets forth on a blazing revisionist crusade to update and add too [one must presume] to the highly acclaimed standard biography of the artist Beyond The Myth by Ronald Anderson and Anne Koval from 1994, as well to other highly important biographical contributors of the past such as Joseph and Elizabeth Pennell, Frank Rutter, James Laver, Denys Sutton, Hilary Taylor and Gordon Fleming.
Sadly he fails miserably on all counts.
Sutherland completely misses the point of European culture in the era of Whistler. He either fails to grasp it or perhaps fails to understand it. European society in the era of Whistler was and, of course, remains a highly intricate set of ever changing values,on all levels.
Therefore, he misses completely the complexity of the historical context - the politics, the economics and the aesthetic battles that was raging all around Whistler - and one thing is for certain, James McNeill Whistler was not an island unto himself. He was driven and shaped by the world around him.
Instead what we the reader receive from Sutherland is a bland, if somewhat stale "he could do no wrong" biography. The author never gets to grip with his subject. He is far too cosy with the artist to dare question his actions - his appalling behavior on occasions, not to mention his utter despair on others.
Factually the book contains many errors.

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