James McNeill Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts but moved in Russia when he was a child. At age eleven, he began studying art at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. He spent most of his life studying and working in several European countries, most notably in England. Whistler’s artwork is known for using colors in tones and shades: values of a few colors rather than many colors. His most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Artist’s Mother, depicts Whistler’s particular interest in how lines and shapes should balance each other and create visual harmony. He was not interested in the stories behind his pictures, but rather in their visual impact. Whistler is also known for having titled most of his artworks with musical suggestions, such as arrangement, symphony, etc., because it was his belief that elements such as color and line, when used correctly, could achieve harmony.
