James McNeill Whistler

Quotes

• ““The story of the beautiful,” said Whistler, with the swagger that made all but his contemporaries love him, “is already complete—hewn in the marbles of the Parthenon, and broidered, with the birds, upon the fan of Hokusai—at the foot of Fuji-yama.””
• “John Ruskin: 'The labour of two days is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?'Whistler: 'No. I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime.'”
• “Shall the painter then.. ..decide upon painting? Shall he be the critic and sole authority? Aggressive as is this supposition, I fear that, in the length of time, his assertion alone has established what even the gentleman of the quill accept as the canons of art, and recognize as the masterpieces of work. Seurat's painting of the Grande Jatte proved extremely influential.”
• “May I therefore acknowledge the tender glow of health induced by reading, as I sat here in the morning sun, the flattering attention paid me by your gentleman of ready wreath and quick biography!”
• “Art is a goddess of dainty thought, reticent of habit, abjuring all obtrusiveness, purposing in no way to better others. She is, withal selfishly occupied with her own perfection only — having no desire to teach.”
• “Listen! There was never an artistic period. There was never an art-loving nation.”

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Wikidata facts

Image

Whistler Selbstporträt.jpg

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