FALLING ROCKET

Historical account of the battle between two Victorian heavyweights.

Murphy chronicles the intellectual fight between American painter James Whistler and British art critic John Ruskin. “Always the dandy,” Whistler left Paris for London in 1860, immersing himself in England’s rich art community. Paintings such as Harmonies and Symphonies aspired to pure aestheticism; Nocturne in Blue and Gold: The Falling Rocket, Murphy writes, “pursued darkness to a revolutionary point he had not reached before.” Ruskin visited the gallery where it was exhibited, and in his published critique called Whistler “a coxcomb [who asked] two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public’s face.” Attacking modern art in general and Nocturne in particular, “Ruskin was accusing [Whistler] not of creating bad art, but of creating no art.” Because of his position as a feared arbiter of English taste, this attack could destroy Whistler’s reputation, so the painter sued Ruskin for libel and “damages of a thousand pounds and costs”—and he needed the money. Characterizing his statements as “fair and bona fide criticism,” Ruskin welcomed the chance to take on Whistler and educate the public. In November 1878, the trial began without Ruskin, who was in the throes of a severe mental health crisis, and the immensely amusing proceedings were brief. Twelve male jurors viewed some of Whistler’s works, heard testimonies, and made a decision: Whistler won, receiving one farthing but no costs. Both men were disappointed: Ruskin’s words had been found libelous, and the derisory damages meant that Whistler was “legally victorious but facing inevitable financial ruin.” Instead, as Murphy nicely chronicles in chapters detailing the trial’s aftermath (and mainly about Whistler), this “artistic Barnum” was already busy with new projects and commissions, while Ruskin’s health continued to decline. He died in 1900, three years before Whistler.

A lively, entertaining tale of art and criticism.