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theses

This dissertation focuses on aspects of the work and reputation of James McNeill Whistler. I argue that by striving to control the dissemination of his artistic vision Whistler was able to reach an unprecedented vast international audience. Nationalism, as it appeared under various guises in art throughout the nineteenth century, here is understood as the driving force in the growth of a global art community, which began in the late eighteenth century, when the ideology of nation-states began to shape cultural production. I am particularly interested in how Whistler dissolved this notion of a national project. To accomplish this goal I will track modalities, or pathways of cultural transmission, by exploring different ways Whistler connected with international artist peer groups, implemented exhibition strategies, and communicated to his patrons when producing and selling his prints and drawings that depict the body. Throughout his career Whistler experimented with ways to capitalize on the new networks of communications, developed by the emerging progressive journals and art galleries, ultimately establishing a significant impact on the agency an artist retains when forming his or her reputation in the twentieth century. Within the international art market, Whistler revolutionized the role of the artist by experimenting with marketing devices. Managing the propagation of his work and aesthetic values through targeting groups of patrons, strategic exhibition programs, and establishing a network to support his work within specific art markets allowed the artist to secure his legacy with the canon of the history of art. Broader implications of my study offer new insights to the emerging art markets in the long nineteenth century begging the re-consideration of Whistler’s oeuvre based in a single country, arena, or media. Connecting the early success of Whistler's Thames Set etchings, the Venice Pastels exhibition at the Fine Art Society in London, and finally the late lithographs and pastel drawings, to the artist's devoted practice of drawing the figure emphasizes the importance of these works of art to understand how Whistler created an aesthetic dialogue with his audiences.

ETD_6419

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Josephine White Rodgers

doi:10.7282/T3MS3VM5

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.