Designer Biography

James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Born: 1834

Died: 1903

See items in our stock by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Whistler is widely credited with stimulating the early interest in Japonisme in London artistic circles. Born in America, he travelled to Paris, where appreciation of Japanese prints was in advance of Britain, and arrived in London in 1859. His exhibits at the Royal Academy at this date revealed the abstract possibilities of Japonisme in painting. His decorative work included the notorious collaboration with Thomas Jeckyll, which resulted in the 'Peacock' room at F. R. Leyland's London house (now carefully restored in the Freer Gallery in Washington), and his scheme with E.W.Godwin for William Watt's exhibit at the 1878 Paris Exhibition.