11 July: James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Born 11 July 1834 was the American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, best known for his portrait of his mother. 10 things you might not know about Whistler.

1. He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts and named James Abbott Whistler (he would add an additional middle name, McNeill, his mother's maiden name, after she died). Today, the house where he was born is a museum dedicated to Whistler.
2. His father was a railroad engineer. The family lived in Lowell for three years after Whistler was born but then moved around a bit, living for a time in Stonington, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts. When Whistler was nine, his father's work on railways came to the attention of Nicholas I of Russia - so the family moved to Russia, where the young Whistler attended art school.
3. As a child, Whistler suffered from poor health and was moody and sometimes lazy. His parents soon worked out that drawing would help him settle down and focus. At school, he always had a sketchbook with him and his caricatures were popular with his classmates.
4. His parents wanted him to become a minister, but it was soon clear that this career wasn't going to suit him. He applied to the United States Military Academy at West Point and got in, even though he was extremely nearsighted, thanks to his family's reputation. It soon became clear that a career in the military wasn't going to suit him, either. His grades were mediocre and he repeatedly broke the dress codes - he was nicknamed "Curly" because his hair was always too long. The only thing he was even remotely competent at was drawing maps, and in the end, Colonel Robert E Lee, West Point Superintendent at the time, was forced to dismiss him.
5. For a while after that, Whistler worked as draftsman, mapping the U.S. coast for military and maritime purposes. He found this work boring and would draw sea serpents, mermaids, and Whales in the margins. When his bosses discovered that, he was transferred to the etching division of the U.S. Coast Survey. There, he learned etching techniques which would stand him in good stead for his later career, but he left after just two months, determined now to pursue a career as an artist.
6. In 1855, he moved to Paris and adopted the life of a Bohemian artist, renting a studio in the Latin Quarter and finding a French girlfriend, a dressmaker called Héloise. During his life he had several mistresses and one wife. His wife was called Beatrice Godwin, who he became close to when she was his model for the painting Harmony in Red: Lamplight. They were married by the Chaplain to the House of Commons, arranged by Whistler's friend Henry Labouchère, who was an MP. The ceremony wasn't publicised for fear that Whistler's most recent mistress, Maud Franklin, might show up and disrupt the ceremony.
7. The painting Whistler is most famous for, the picture of his mother, wasn't supposed to be called "Whistler's Mother" - that was what people called it; Whistler's intended title was Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1. It wasn't supposed to be of his mother, either, but his intended model didn't turn up, so he decided to paint his mother instead. He originally wanted to paint the model standing, but since Whistler was a slow and careful painter, taking dozens of sittings to finish, standing up proved too tiring for his mother, so he let her sit down. The painting wasn't particularly well received at first, because it was deceptively simple and made up mostly of tones of Grey, at a time when popular art was colourful and flamboyant.
8. Whistler's signature was an abstract Butterfly with a stinger. His signature developed out of an interest in Asian art and potter's marks on ceramics. The butterfly is a monogram of his initials. He added the stinger to reflect his provocative side, while the butterfly represented his gentle and sensitive side.
9. Whistler was a leading proponent of the maxim "art for art's sake", and believed that line and tone were more important than colour. He was therefore at odds with the Impressionists, fashionable at the time, who took the opposite view.
10. What was he like? He was described as short and slight, with piercing eyes and a curly moustache. He wore a monocle and dressed in a flashy manner. He exuded self-confidence and could be arrogant and selfish. He was known for his biting wit and flippancy about society and politics, but he always took art seriously.