Mr. Moore’s Opinion of Whistler

Modern Art, 1 January 1894, page unnumbered, 159 words

Mr. Whistler is only serious in his art – a grave fault according to the academicians, who are serious in everything except their “art."  ✽ ✽  He is the one solitary example of cosmopolitanism in art, for there is nothing in his pictures.to show that they come from the north, the south, the east, or the west. They are compounds of all that is great in Eastern and Western culture.  ✽ ✽  In the "Nocturnes" Mr. Whistler stands alone, without a rival. In portraits he is at his best when the theme lends itself to an imaginative and decorative treatment.  ✽ ✽  He is at his worst when he is frankly realistic. ✽ ✽  Exquisite and happy combination of the art of an entire nation and the genius of one man – the soul of Japan incarnate in the body of the immortal Spaniard. GEORGE MOORE