Table Of ContentJames McNeill Whistler and France
James McNeill Whistler and France: A Dialogue in Paint, Poetry, and Music is the first
full-length and in-depth study to position this painter within the overall trajectory of
French modernism during the second half of the nineteenth century and to view the
artist as integral to the aesthetic projects of its most original contributors. Suzanne
Singletary maintains that Whistler was in a unique situation as an insider within the
emerging French avant-garde, thereby in an enviable position to both absorb and
transform the innovations of others – and that until now, his widespread influence as
a catalyst among his colleagues has been neither investigated nor appreciated.
Singletary contends that Whistler’s importance rivals that of Manet, whose multi-
layered (and often unexpected) interconnections with Whistler are the focus of one
chapter. In addition, Whistler’s pivotal role in linking the legacies of Baudelaire, Dela-
croix, Gautier, Wagner, and other mid-century innovators to the later French Symbol-
ists has previously been largely ignored. Courbet, Degas, Monet, and Seurat complete
the roster of French artists whose dialogue with Whistler is highlighted.
Suzanne Singletary is Associate Professor of Art and Architectural History at Phila-
delphia University. She has published on Eugène Delacroix, French Symbolism, and
Francesco Goya, and contributed essays to Impressionist Interiors (2008), Perspec-
tives on Manet (2012) and Rival Sisters (2014).
James McNeill Whistler
and France
A Dialogue in Paint, Poetry, and Music
Suzanne Singletary
First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Suzanne Singletary
The right of Suzanne Singletary to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN: 978-1-4724-4200-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-43872-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Bill and John Paul and in memory of my father
Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Acknowledgements xiv
Introduction: Whistler’s dialogues 1
1 Crossing thresholds: Baudelaire and Whistler 13
2 The artist’s studio: Courbet and Whistler 36
3 Voyage: Manet and Whistler 74
4 Holland and the modern interior: Degas and Whistler 102
5 Alliteration and ellipses: Monet, Mallarmé, and Whistler 128
6 Seurat’s butterfly: Seurat and Whistler 153
Conclusion: Whistler and France 178
Bibliography 182
Index 199
Illustrations
Color plates
1 “A Symphony,” cartoon of Sir James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)
from Vanity Fair, January 12, 1878 (color lithograph). Ward, Leslie Matthew
(Spy) (1851–1922) / Private Collection / Bridgeman Images
2 James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket
(1875), oil on panel, 60.3 x 46.6 cm. Detroit Institute of Arts, USA / Gift of
Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. / Bridgeman Art Library
3 James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Blue & Silver: Cremorne Lights
(1872), oil on canvas, 50.2 x 74.3 cm. Photo Credit: Tate, London / Art
Resource, NY
4 James McNeill Whistler, Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room
(1860), oil on canvas, 96.3 x 71.7 cm. Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian
Institution, USA / Gift of Charles Lang Freer / Bridgeman Images
5 James McNeill Whistler, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room
(1876–77), oil paint and gold leaf on canvas, leather, and wood, 421 x 613.4 x
1026.2 cm. Photo by Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, USA / Gift
of Charles Lang Freer / Bridgeman Images
6 James McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the
Artist’s Mother (1871), oil on canvas, 144.3 x 162.5 cm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris,
France / Bridgeman Images
7 Gustave Courbet, The Artist’s Studio, a Real Allegory, detail of the painter
and his model (1854–55), oil on canvas, 361 x 598 cm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris,
France / Bridgeman Images
8 Gustave Courbet, The Artist’s Studio, a Real Allegory of Seven Years of My
Artistic Life (1854–55), oil on canvas, 361 x 598 cm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris,
France / Bridgeman Images
9 James McNeill Whistler, The Artist in His Studio (1865), oil on paper, 62.9
x 46.4 cm. The Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA / Friends of American Art
Collection/ Bridgeman Images
10 Gustave Courbet, La Rencontre (The Meeting), also known as Bonjour,
Monsieur Courbet! (1854), oil on canvas, 129 x 149 cm. Musée Fabre,
Montpellier, France / Bridgeman Images
11 Albert Moore, A Musician (1867), oil on canvas, 28.6 x 38.7 cm. Yale Center
for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund, USA / Bridgeman Images
Illustrations ix
12 James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 3 (1867), oil on canvas,
51.4 x 76.9 cm. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham /
Bridgeman Images
13 Gustave Courbet, The Artist on the Seashore at Palavas (1854–55), oil on
canvas, 38 x 46.2 cm. Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France / Bridgeman Images
14 James McNeill Whistler, Harmony in Blue and Silver: Trouville (1865), oil on
canvas, 49.5 x 75.5 cm. © Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA,
USA / Bridgeman Images
15 James McNeill Whistler, At the Piano (1858–59), oil on canvas, 67 x 91.6 cm.
Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA / Bequest of Louise Taft Semple /
Bridgeman Images
16 Edouard Manet, Madame Manet At the Piano (1867–68), oil on canvas, 38 x
46.5 cm. Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France / Bridgeman Images
17 Edouard Manet, Steamboat Leaving Boulogne (1864–65), oil on canvas,
73.6 x 92.6 cm. Potter Palmer Collection, 1922.425, The Art Institute of
Chicago. Photograph © The Art Institute of Chicago
18 James McNeill Whistler, Trouville (Grey and Green, the Silver Sea) (1865), oil
on canvas, 51.5 x 77.2 cm. Gift of Honoré and Potter Palmer 1922.448, The
Art Institute of Chicago. Photograph © Art Institute of Chicago
19 James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White No. 1: The White Girl (1861–62),
oil on canvas, 213 x 107.9 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA /
Bridgeman Images
20 Edouard Manet, Young Woman of 1866 (1866), oil on canvas, 185.1 x
128.6 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA / Bridgeman Images
21 James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl
(1864), oil on canvas, 76.5 x 51.1 cm. Photo Credit: Tate London / Art
Resources, NY
22 Edgar Degas, The Bellelli Family (1858–67), oil on canvas, 200 x 250 cm.
Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France / Bridgeman Images
23 Claude Monet, Impression: Sunrise (1872), oil on canvas, 48 x 63 cm. Musée
Marmottan Monet, Paris, France / Bridgeman Images
24 James McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Blue and Silver: Thames (c. 1872/8), oil
on canvas, 44.5 x 61 cm. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Fund, USA /
Bridgeman Images
25 Claude Monet, The Thames and the Houses of Parliament below Westminster
(1871), oil on canvas, 47 x 72.5 cm. National Gallery, London, UK / Bridgeman
Images
26 Claude Monet, Seagulls over the Houses of Parliament (1904), oil on canvas,
82 x 92 cm. Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia / Bridgeman Images
27 Claude Monet, The Houses of Parliament, London (1903), oil on canvas, 81 x
92 cm. Musée des Beaux-Arts André Malraux, Le Havre, France / Bridgeman
Images
28 Claude Monet, View of the Voorzaan (1871), oil on canvas, 18 x 38 cm. Musée
Marmottan Monet, Paris, France / Bridgeman Images
29 James McNeill Whistler, Battersea Reach from Lindsey Houses (c. 1864–
71), oil on canvas, 50.8 x 75.2 cm. The Hunterian, University of Glasgow,
Scotland / Bridgeman Images
