James McNeill Whistler
(American, 1834 – 1903)



Over 20 works by Whistler, both paintings and prints, are in Hill-Stead’s collection. The two most significant paintings, The Blue Wave, Biarritz, 1862 and Symphony in Violet and Blue, 1893, span 30 years of the artist’s career and reflect his evolution from Realism to a fluid Impressionistic approach. Hill-Stead’s archives contain correspondence between Whistler and Alfred Pope that reveals an enduring, deep friendship and mutual regard.