Portrait of Dr. William McNeill Whistler
James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)
1871–73
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 43.7 × 34.8 cm (17 3/16 × 13 11/16 in.)
- Culture
- London
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Gift of Mary T. Wentworth in memory of her husband, John
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
Born in Massachusetts, James McNeill Whistler lived all of his adult life in Europe, working in artistic centers such as Paris, London, and Venice. Whistler painted this portrait of his brother William in London, where both of them then lived; the artist had established a studio there in 1859. Having served as a medical officer for the Confederate Army, Dr. William McNeill Whistler moved to the city after the Civil War and was a respected physician. Whistler modeled his brother’s face with some degree of detail, yet also employed broad brushstrokes of thinly applied paint to merely suggest the sitter’s dress, which blends into a background of flat color.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
