Thea Holme's book on Chelsea opens its chapter on Whistler with the fact that he was borne exactly one month after Thomas Carlyle moved into 24 Cheyne Row. James Abbott McNeil Whistler (1834-1903) was an American who went to Paris to study art after failing his West Point exams and discovering his ability in draughtsmanship in the office of the US Coastal Survey. He spent much of his life resident at several addresses in Chelsea following his mother's arrival from the USA in 1863, to escape the Civil War. One of those residencies is commemorated by a Blue Plaque here at 96 Cheyne Walk. He was a determinedly and acerbically anti-establishment artist. Famed particularly as a portraitist he was himself most concerned with experimenting with the harmonic interaction of colours. So, the renowned portrait of his mother was titled 'An Arrangement in Grey and Black' and that of the 8-year-old daughter of one of his major patrons was 'An Arrangement in Grey and Green'. His painting technique which was criticised by Ruskin as 'flinging a pot of paint in the public's face' contrasted strongly with the draughtsmanship of his etchings which include a particularly successful set of the Thames. In 1891 Whistler sold his portrait of Thomas Carlyle, which had at one time been in pawn as had that of his mother, to the Glasgow Corporation for 1,000 guineas.

O/S Co-ords:2689.7751
Source(s):

Chambers Biographical Dictionary

The Blue Plaque Guide to London Homes