James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born British artist best known for his paintings of nocturnal London and his full-length portraits. One of the major artists active during the American Gilded Age, he was also an articulate theorist who created a new set of principles for the fine arts and was a leading proponent of the philosophy of “art for art's sake". Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, as the son of a railroad engineer, he spent some time in Russia at St. Petersburg where his father was offered a job. He enjoyed a privileged childhood but was a moody child prone to temper tantrums who would calm down only when given the chance to draw and sketch. Recognizing his talent, his father had him enrolled in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts when he was 11 years old. He exceled in his art classes and enjoyed having intellectual discussions with his older peers. A relative introduced him to art collectors and took him to lectures which further intensified the boy’s interest in fine arts. He decided as a teenager that he wanted to pursue art as a career. However, it was not before he struggled for years that he could finally establish himself as a successful artist and gain the acclaim he deserved.
