DANIEL E. SUTHERLAND - LETTERS FROM AMERICA At this festive time of the year (I am writing in mid-December), I always enjoy reading two Christmas classics: Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Blue Carbuncle.” Yes, the latter really is a Christmas tale, celebrating, as Sherlock Holmes himself reminds us, “the season of forgiveness.” It also reminds me of the many similarities between Holmes and James Whistler. Naturally, they differ in some way

Elizabeth and Joseph Pennell say that Whistler and Beatrice chose the site together. The reliability of the Pennells’ reporting aside, Whistler fancied St. Nicholas as his last stop on earth for two reasons.

There is no doubt that Whistler was born in the United States. Even he, except for the Ruskin trial, when he swore to have been born in St. Petersburg, Russia, never denied that fact. For him, it was merely a question of where in the United States he had been born, and that was a moveable feast.

DANIEL E. SUTHERLAND: LETTERS FROM AMERICA Looking ahead to next summer’s highly anticipated Whistler exhibition at Tate Britain, I have been wondering how the Society might contribute to this marvellous occasion. One idea that occurs to me is a recreation of the Whistler v. Ruskin court battle. It would not be the first time this pivotal moment in the Master’s life has been given dramatic treatment. The Whistler-Ruskin confrontation, long recognized as a seminal momen

Whistler ranks as one of the most colourful “celebrities” of his day. The number of stories, rumours, and anecdotes about him seem endless. They were plentiful enough during his lifetime, but with his passing, scores of friends and acquaintances chipped in by publishing tales they had heard about the Master.

Members of the Whistler Society have recently been able to communicate with the Master through several séances. Of course, those occasions have only been possible because of the uncanny ability of Darcy Sullivan to channel Whistler’s spirit, but have we been too cautious in our approach? Could we perhaps contact Whistler himself beyond the veil?

The Royal Society of British Artists, one of the UK’s most venerable arts organizations, celebrates its 200th birthday in May. Founded at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by several eminent painters--soon to number twenty-three--it began life as the Society of British Artists. The Society became “Royal” in 1887, thanks to the deft manoeuvring of its American president, James McNeill Whistler, who led the alliance from 1886 to 1888.

Whistler insisted over and over again that the principal standard for judging a work of art must be Beauty. He rejected entirely the widely accepted premise that pictorial art should tell a story, convey a moral, or elicit emotion.

James Whistler excelled at self-promotion. Known as much for his antics and quips as for his art, he purposely courted public attention. Often caricatured in Punch and other publications, he was more familiar to the public than most other artists.

Anna Curran contacted me a few months ago with information about her great- grandmother, Anita LeRoy, who had studied at the Académie Carmen, the art school operated by Whistler in Paris between 1898 and 1901. I use the word “operated” loosely.

James Whistler’s Nocturnes would seem to owe a good deal to J. M. W. Turner. Certainly, the abstract quality of a late oil painting like Turner’s Rain, Steam and Speed and some of his Venetian watercolours might well have inspired certain Nocturnes.

Having been alerted by the stalwart editor of our Newsletter to the recent auction of a drawing of Whistler by Mortimer Menpes (see below), this seems an opportune time to consider the connection between those two men.

an upcoming exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts will feature Joanna Hiffernan. Curated by Margaret F. MacDonald and others, Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan opens to the public on February 26 and runs until May 22 before moving on to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., July 3 through October 10.

James Whistler and Edgar Allen Poe rank as two of West Point’s most famous failures, at least as potential army officers....

James Whistler has been the target of many accusations and slanders, but none seems more ridiculous than the suggestion that he was not well read. A clear statement of this misguided notion comes from Mortimer Menpes, one of Whistler’s most dedicated followers. The Master, Menpes asserted, “read very little—I never saw him read a book.” Time to expose this canard.

DANIEL E. SUTHERLAND: LETTERS FROM AMERICA Whistler listened attentively one evening as three friends, Sir Richard F. Burton, Burton’s...

The annus mirabilis of 2020 concluded with an intriguing auction. On the block rare, hand-crafted shotgun....