Key Figures

N to P

William Eden Nesfield (1835-1888)
Nesfield was an architect and designer. He was close friends with Whistler, and like him was deeply inspired by Japanese art and design. He was also friends with Albert Moore and in 1870 was called in to arbitrate between the two artists, Whistler feeling that their works were too similar. Nesfield diplomatically declared the influence to be mutual, Whistler being influenced by Moore's classically draped females, and Moore by Whistler's colour harmonies.

Pennells: Elizabeth Pennell (1855-1936) was an American art critic and writer and Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) was an American illustrator, printmaker and writer. Both were good friends of Whistler and wrote an important book about Whistler’s life and work.

Robert Goodloe Harper Pennington (1854-1920)
Pennington was an American artist, who studied art under the French painter Jean Léon Gérome at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He joined a group of American painters led by Frank Duveneck called the “Duveneck Boys”. Having met Whistler in Venice, Pennington became his ardent friend and pupil.

Pettigrew sisters
Hetty, Lily and Rose Pettigrew came from a poor family of 13 children. They made their living as professional models, having begun to pose in London to well known artists such as Whistler when they were only in their teens, see for example The Conversation [link – Works on paper/Pastels/GLAHA 46156]. One artist described them as “three little gypsies”.

Rose Amy Pettigrew (born 1872)
Rose Pettigrew was a professional model in London. She was one of 13 children. Her sisters Hetty and Lily were also models. They posed for many artists including Whistler, see for example Mother and Child [link – Works on paper/Drawings/GLAHA 46103]. Rose claims that at one time Whistler’s wife Beatrix wanted to adopt her. In the early 1890s Rose was Whistler’s most important model, sometimes posing five days a week for drawings, pastels and watercolours.

Ethel Birnie Philip (1861-1920)
Ethel was Whistler’s sister-in-law and was nicknamed 'Bunnie' by the artist. She was the daughter of the sculptor John Birnie Philip and his wife Frances Black, and was one of ten children. She married the American journalist and writer Charles Whibley in 1894. Before her marriage she worked as Whistler's secretary. Whistler painted many full-length portraits of her, including Red and Black: The Fan [link – Painting/Portraits/GLAHA 46386] and Rose et or: La Tulipe [link – Painting/Portraits/GLAHA 46316]. She also appears in the lithograph The Duet [link – Works on paper/Prints/GLAHA 49081].

Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958)
Rosalind was the youngest of the ten children of the sculptor John Birnie Philip and his wife Frances Black. She was Whistler’s sister-in-law and was made his ward and executrix at her sister Beatrix’s death in 1896. She acted as Whistler’s companion, model, secretary and housekeeper until his death. She also posed for a number of drawings, lithographs and paintings. Whistler nicknamed her “Major”. Whistler himself was the “General”. She inherited Whistler's estate in 1903. It was she who gifted and bequeathed the Whistler Estate to the University of Glasgow.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
Poe was an American writer and poet who was greatly admired by Whistler.

Edward John Poynter (1836-1919)
Poynter was a history and genre painter. He studied with Whistler in the studio of Charles Gleyre in Paris in the 1850s. He became particularly well known for his large classical, history paintings. Like Whistler he showed a concern for beauty, colour harmony and the decorative female figure. However, unlike Whistler he was firmly part of the art establishment, and in 1896 he became President of the Royal Academy in London.