Object details
Accession number
10.b.3.25
Creators
Full title
Whistler v. Ruskin: Art & Art Critics
Creation Date
1878
Language
English
Publication Place
London
Binding Description
brown paper; printed black lettering with butterfly
Description
17 p.; 21 cm
Provenance
Probably a gift from James McNeill Whistler to Isabella Stewart Gardner by 1906.
Marks
Dedicated in ink (title page): Isabella S. Gardner / from - [printed] Whistler
Dimensions
19.5 x 14.7 cm (7 11/16 x 5 13/16 in.)
Display Media
Printed ink on paper
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner collected James McNeill Whistler’s published writing as well as his artwork. In this book, the artist responds to a public dispute with the art critic John Ruskin. Whistler sued Ruskin for libel in 1877 after the critic published a review that accused him of “flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.” The case was decided in Whistler’s favor, but the court awarded him only a farthing in damages. Frustrated, the painter published his own version of the trial—Whistler vs. Ruskin: Art & Art Critics.
Permanent Gallery Location
Blue Room
Bibliography
Isabella Stewart Gardner. A Choice of Books from the Library of Isabella Stewart Gardner, Fenway Court (Boston, 1906), p. 69.
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