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.