James McNeill Whistler

James McNeil Whistler (1834 -1903) was born in the United States of America and spent time in Russia as a child where he took private art lessons, enrolling in the Imperial Academy of the Arts at the age of eleven. While Whistler is best knows for his paintings, he was also a talented draughtsman who sketched incessantly, creating more than 400 etchings and lithographs throughout his career.

In 1855 he travelled to Europe where he studied and worked for the majority of his professional life, splitting his time between London and Paris he became influenced by his peers such as artists Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Édouard Manet.

Following a visit to Valparaíso, Chile in 1866 Whistler developed a series of night scene paintings which captured harbours, rivers and urban environment using a monochromatic palette of variations of greens, blues and greys.

Over the following decade in London, Whistler expanded the series with views of the River Thames and Cremorne Gardens, often depicting fleeting effects such as fireworks, mist, and reflected light. His innovative technique involved applying thin layers of paint with delicate, gestural marks, allowing forms such as ships, water, and shoreline to emerge subtly rather than through precise detail.

Influenced in part by Japanese prints, Whistler's Nocturnes integrated the compositional hallmarks of ukiyo-e woodcuts into his works such as asymmetrical compositions, flatness of the picture plane and aerial perspective, emphasising a sense of balance, emptiness, and tonal harmony.

Central to Whistler’s Nocturnes is his belief in art as an arrangement of colour and mood, rather than storytelling. He adopted musical titles such as “nocturne,” “harmony,” and “arrangement” to draw attention to the sensory and compositional qualities of his work, encouraging viewers to respond emotionally rather than search for literal meaning.

This approach situates the Nocturnes as some of Whistler’s most experimental works, reflecting a broader shift in nineteenth-century art toward abstraction and modernity. These works provide an opportunity for students to consider how minimal detail, tonal subtlety, and inventive titling can transform how we see and interpret the world.

Whistler painted atmospheric scenes focused on mood rather than storytelling or message.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, born Massachusetts, United States of America 1834, died London, United Kingdom 1903, Crepuscule in Opal, Trouville, 1865, oil on canvas, 34.9 x 46.0 cm; Gift of Florence Scott Libbey, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, United States of America.

Explore & Respond

  • ideas, practices, works and contexts for the arts in the lives of individuals and groups across cultures, times, places and communities 
  • the diversity of how, where and why people create, make, perform, present and respond across arts forms, and the roles that the arts play in lives, cultures and communities 
  • ways in which the arts communicate cultural and aesthetic knowledge, purpose, meaning and emotion  
  • ways in which the arts develop empathy and understanding of multiple perspectives, across personal, local, regional, national and global contexts. 

Developing practices and skills

  • creative skills for using and manipulating the elements, principles, conventions and/or processes of arts forms 
  • using available materials and technologies to develop and communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning 
  • critical skills in observing, reflecting, analysing, evaluating and/or documenting their own and others’ arts-making practices, using language and/or embodied practices. 

Creating and Making

  • individual and/or collaborative work using available resources/materials in diverse existing, emerging and innovative forms, styles and/or genres  
  • new work, which may be refined and realised, or may be presented as a work in progress  
  • interpretations of work created by others and interpretations of their own work as performers; interpreting involves informed observation, analysis, reflection and evaluation. 

Presenting and Performing

  • share their work using available spaces, materials, technologies and/or digital tools   
  • plan, select, design and rehearse their presentations and performances  

Monochromatic

A monochromatic colour palette consists of variations (tints and shades) of one colour.

Composition

Composition is the placement or arrangement of objects or subject matter in a work of art, for example, figures, buildings, trees etc.

Composition can also relate to how an artist has organised visual elements and principles such as line, shape, colour, texture, pattern, rhythm etc. in a work of art.

Harmonious Colours

Harmonious or (analogous) colours are next to each other on the colour wheel. Complementary colours are those opposite each other on the colour wheel.

  • What colours do you notice first?
  • How would you describe the mood of Whistler's paintings using 3 words?
  • What time of day does this feel like and why?
  • How has Whistler used line, tone, or colour in his works?
  • What is clear? What is difficult to see?
  • Why might Whistler have chosen soft colours or blurry effects?
  • How are these paintings by Whistler different from other paintings of landscapes?
  • How does the work of art make you feel?

What would you call it?

Whistler used musical terms for titles of his works such as Nocturne, Harmony, and Arrangement.

  • Why might an artist use a musical term instead of a descriptive title?
  • How does the title shape your interpretation?

Rename Whistler's painting with one literal title and one that is more abstract.

Japanese Influence

Take a look at examples of ukiyo-e prints and compare this to the work of Whistler. Can you see flat areas of colour, empty space, cropped views? What else do you notice that Whistler may have been influenced by?

Compositional Devices

A painting sometimes consists of a foreground, middle ground and background.

  • What do you think is the function of these planes?
  • Draw over photocopies of Whistler's paintings to identify the foreground, middle ground and background.
  • Repeat this for a few of Whistler's paintings with different subject matter.
  • Was the composition constructed the same way each time?
  • Where does he place his subject matter?
  • What is consistent about his compositions?
  • Minimal marks are used in Whistler's paintings to give an impression of a place. Look at an outside scene. What are the three most dominant elements? Quickly paint or block in these elements with watercolour paint.
  • Inspired by Whistler's techniques, experiment with watercolour paint:
    • layer thin washes of colour
    • add highlights or soft reflections
    • use sponge or paper towel to create the impression of mist or haze
    • try using only tones of one colour to create a sense of depth.
  • Visit a place which has a body of water, it might be the ocean or a waterfall or your local pool. Observe how light reflects off the water’s surface. Create a series of photographs at different times of the day which captures these shimmering natural phenomena. Remake in chalk or oil pastel using a monochromatic palette.
Misty Monoprint
Activity in Focus

Recommended for Primary Students (Years 3 & 4)

In this printing activity students will create their own misty landscape inspired by Whistler's hazy works using the technique of monoprinting.

Monoprinting is where you apply ink of paint to a flat surface (in this instance we will be using alfoil) and transfer that image onto paper.

Students will:

  • Plan their composition. This could include observing or thinking about a natural environment important to them.
  • Create a landscape using graduated monoprinting
  • Experiment with the printing process (playing with different amounts of texta and water)

Getting Started in the Classroom and/or the Gallery

Observation and Research

  • View and discuss Whistler's landscape paintings and drawings.
  • Identify how he uses a monochromatic palette and simplified forms to create mood. Use our Think and Discuss questions in the section above.

Materials:

  • Alfoil sheets cut just slightly larger than A4
  • Water-based markers (thick Crayola markers work best)
  • Spray bottle with water
  • White cartridge paper
  • Coloured pencils or crayons (optional for the second lesson)

Tips for Teachers:

  • Using the sides of the markers and not the tip is a more effective spread of colour, discuss and demonstrate this to students.
  • Demonstrate spraying the water too far, too close and too much and discuss what happens to the colours and the print
  • Don't worry about making everything perfect. Focus on creating soft colours and an impression of the landscape rather than tiny details.

Prepare the materials

Gather your white cartridge paper, textas and piece of foil and set up your area, name your paper. Gently smooth out the alfoil sheet so that it lays falt.

Plan your landscape and share ideas

Think about place in nature where you like to spend time with friends, family or by yourself. It can be a place where you would like to visit one day.

e.g.

  • Beach
  • Sunset
  • Forrest
  • Field of flowers
  • Hills
  • Clifftops

Draw on the Foil

Use the water-based markers to colour your landscape directly onto the foil. Use the sides of the markers not the tips

Blend the Colours

Lightly spray the foil about 20cm from the paper with no more than 5-6 sprays of water evenly around the foil. Do not over spray as the colours will blend into a murky puddle. Do not under spray as the print wont lift. This might take some practice.

Perfect even spray makes the colours spread and blend together like soft brushstrokes.

Making Your Print

Carefully place the sheet of white paper on top of the wet foil (name facing you) and evenly rub the whole back of the paper softly with your hands so the colours transfer onto the paper. Make sure you do the edges and all of the centre.

Reveal Your Work of Art

Slowly peel your paper from the foil to reveal your print. If you pull the paper back and it hasn’t transferred, spray a little bit more water on the alfoil, lay the paper back down, rub the paper and then peel again.

Let It Dry

Lay your print flat and allow it to dry completely.

Take it further

When dry, use coloured pencils/crayons to softly outline aspects of your landscape you want the viewer to focus on (i.e horizon, rocks, trees, sun).

Photo: West Lakes Shore School.

Photo: West Lakes Shore School.

Photo: West Lakes Shore School.

Landscape Study
Activity in Focus

Recommended for Primary Students (Years 5 & 6)

In this painting study students will explore how artists create a sense of atmosphere, depth and mood in landscapes. They will observe and record trees from direct observation and use ink washes and watercolour techniques inspired by the landscapes of James McNeill Whistler.

Students will:

  • Observe and record natural forms through drawing and photography.
  • Create a tonal landscape using graduated ink washes.
  • Use value (light and dark tones) to create depth and distance.
  • Experiment with bleeding and blending ink to create atmospheric effects.
  • Add a foreground tree using drawing and painting techniques.
  • Explain how their work of art has been influenced by Whistler's use of tone and mood.

Getting Started in the Classroom and/or the Gallery

Observation and Research

  • View and discuss Whistler's landscape paintings and drawings.
  • Identify how he used tone, atmosphere and simplified forms to create mood. Use our Think and Discuss questions in the section above.
  • Take sketchbooks outside for an en plein air drawing session. Observe and draw trees from direct observation.
  • Photograph the trees and the surrounding landscape for reference.

Creating the Tonal Background

  • Using black ink and a soft brush, paint horizontal bands across the paper:
    • Darkest tones at the bottom (foreground).
    • Mid-tones through the middle ground.
    • Lightest tones toward the top (background/sky).
  • Allow the wet bands to gently bleed into one another to create soft, blurred transitions.
  • Leave the work to dry completely before adding detail.

Adding Your Silhouette Tree

  • Lightly sketch a tree in the foreground using a pencil. Use your photographs and drawings as reference.
  • Refine the drawing by adding details to the trunk and branches.
  • Apply ink or watercolour to define the tree and create contrast against the atmospheric background.
  • Consider line, tone and texture to make the tree appear closer to the viewer.

Tips:

  • Paint the darkest band first and gradually adding more water to create lighter tones.
  • Encourage students to work quickly while the paper is wet so the bands blend softly into one another.
  • Encourage students to make the foreground tree darker and more detailed than the background.

Take it Further

Add a second, lighter tree in the middle ground to further explore atmospheric perspective and create a stronger sense of space.

Drypoint Etching
Activity in Focus

Recommended for Secondary Students (Years 7 & 8)

In this printmaking unit students will investigate how artists use tone, atmosphere and printmaking techniques to communicate mood and a sense of place. Inspired by the landscapes of James McNeill Whistler, students will create a series of drypoint prints based on direct observation of trees and the Australian landscape.

Students will:

  • Record observations through drawing, go outside to draw en plein air, and take photographs.
  • Use tonal value to create depth and atmosphere.
  • Experiment with dry point printmaking processes and techniques.
  • Create multiple prints from a prepared etched plate.
  • Explain how Whistler's work influenced their artistic choices.

Getting Started in the Classroom and/or the Gallery

  • How has Whistler used tone and atmosphere to create mood in landscapes?
  • Why might Whistler have chosen soft colours or blurry effects?
  • How is this different from realistic paintings?
  • What are the similarities and differences between painting, drawing and printmaking processes?
  • How can atmospheric perspective create depth?
  • Why do artists create prints as opposed to using other media like painting?

Observe and draw trees from direct observation.

Take photographs of trees and landscapes to use as reference material.

Preparing the Atmospheric Background

  • Prepare printmaking paper (watercolour paper works well) with an ink wash background.
  • Using a brush, apply bands of ink to create atmospheric perspective:
    • Darkest tones at the bottom of the paper (foreground).
    • Mid-tones through the middle ground.
    • Lightest tones toward the horizon and sky.
  • Allow the bands to softly bleed into one another to create blurred transitions and a sense of distance.
  • Leave papers to dry completely before printing.

Creating the Drypoint Etching Plate

  • Use a tree image inspired by an observational drawing or photographs and place it under a Perspex plate to draw the lines more accurately.
  • Use an etching needle to incise lines into the surface.
  • Use different line qualities, textures and mark-making techniques to suggest bark, branches and foliage.

Inking and Printing

  • Apply printing ink evenly across the Perspex plate with stiff cardboard.
  • Wipe the surface carefully using muslin (cotton fabric), leaving ink in the incised lines.
  • Soak the prepared papers in water and towel-dry before printing.
  • Position the prepared paper and plate in the printing press.
  • Print multiple editions.
  • Compare variations in line quality, contrast and atmospheric effects.

Tip: If you don't have a printing press in your classroom there alternatives such as converting an old pasta maker to a press or rolling pin or wooden spoon.

Watch DYI Etching Press

Watch Intaglio Printmaking

Teacher Tips

  • Print a test so students can evaluate and improve their plates before producing a final edition.

More

The Gallery’s Learning programs are supported by the Department for Education.

This education resource has been developed and written in collaboration with educators Dawn Clarke, Lisa Zappia, AGSA Education Manager Kylie Neagle, Tansy Curtin, Assistant Director, Artistic and Collection Programs, Maria Zagala, Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs.