MondayJames Whistler is noted for his paintings of night-time city scenes, his stylish full-length portraits, and for his brilliant etchings and lithographs (a type of print). He was born in the United States but traveled to many countries and settled in England. Whistler developed his own style, using muted colors and simple forms. His philosophy was art for art's sake. Whistler had a significant influence on European and American artists of the late nineteenth century.
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Whistler's signature
histler’s famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail. Whistler's butterfly signature first developed in the 1860s out of his interest in Asian art. He studied the potter's marks on the china he had begun to collect and decided to design a monogram of his initials. Over time this changed into the shape of an abstract butterfly. By around 1880, he added a stinger to the butterfly image to create a mark representing both his gentle, sensitive nature and his more feisty spirit.
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Whistler’s art began one of the earliest shifts from traditional or realistic art to the style of abstract art which is the heart of much modern art.
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This idea placed more importance on the colors, mood, composition, and beauty of form than on the subject matter itself.
“Art for art’s sake” meant Whistler wasn’t concerned so much with showing what someone or some place actually looked like as he was with creating a piece of art.
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