Whistler's Legacy

Few artists were as determined to shape their own legacy as James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Fiercely protective of his reputation, he denounced would-be biographers, published The Gentle Art of Making Enemies as his own autobiography, and destroyed works he thought unworthy of his genius, declaring more than once that âto destroy is to survive.â Yet despite his efforts at control, Whistlerâs legacy has proved as unpredictable and contentious as the man himself. In this engagingly written book, Daniel E. Sutherland traces the turbulent fortunes of Whistlerâs reputation since his death in 1903. He examines the friends, relatives, and acquaintances who first shaped the story of Whistlerâs life and art and shows how three defining issuesâ"the cultivated image of the dandy, his reputation for quarrelsomeness, and the origins of the nocturnesâ"came to dominate critical debates. Along the way, Sutherland challenges entrenched assumptions by questioning and often correcting the reasons behind Whistlerâs controversial standing. He also demonstrates how these narratives have evolved through successive generations of critics, curators, and scholars, while seeping into popular culture as well. Offering the first sustained study of Whistlerâs contested posthumous reputation, this book makes a significant contribution to the field of nineteenth-century art and biography. It will appeal to art historians, museum professionals, and scholars of modernism, as well as any admirers of Whistler eager to understand how and why he remains such a polarizing figure today.