Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This engaging personal history dispels the popular notion of Whistler as merely a combative, eccentric, and unrelenting publicity seeker. The Whistler revealed in these beautifully illustrated pages is an intense, introspective, and complex man, plagued by self-doubt and haunted by an endless pursuit of perfection in his painting and drawing.
" Sutherland] seeks to get behind the public Whistler . . . never judging or condescending to his subject . . . The portrait of Whistler that emerges is complex and mysterious . . . a measured and scholarly account of an extraordinary life."--Ruth Scurr, Wall Street Journal
"The first comprehensive biography of Whistler in at least a generation . . . Sutherland skillfully captures Whistler's ambition, tenacity, and insecurity and presents his life in a narrative that does justice to both his triumphs and his failures."--Eleanor Jones Harvey, American Scholar
Synopsis
A major new biography of James McNeill Whistler, one of most complex, intriguing, and important of America's artists
This engaging personal history dispels the popular notion of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) as merely a combative, eccentric, and unrelenting publicity seeker. The Whistler revealed in these beautifully illustrated pages is an intense, introspective, and complex man, plagued by self-doubt and haunted by an endless pursuit of perfection in his painting and drawing.
" Sutherland] seeks to get behind the public Whistler . . . never judging or condescending to his subject. . . . The portrait of Whistler that emerges is complex and mysterious . . . a measured and scholarly account of an extraordinary life."--Ruth Scurr, Wall Street Journal
"The first comprehensive biography of Whistler in at least a generation. . . . Sutherland skillfully captures Whistler's ambition, tenacity, and insecurity and presents his life in a narrative that does justice to both his triumphs and his failures."--Eleanor Jones Harvey, American Scholar
Synopsis
This engaging biography, now in paperback, brings to life a pivotal figure in nineteenth-century cultural history, perhaps the most influential artist of his generation.