5 Quotes by James McNeill Whistler

Industry in art is a necessity—not a virtue—and any evidence of the same, in the production, is a blemish, not a quality; a proof, not of achievement, but of absolutely insufficient work, for work alone will efface the footsteps of work.

We look at a painting to know the painter; it's his company we are after, not his skill.

Oscar Wilde: "I wish I had said that." Whistler: "You will, Oscar; you will.

An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.

I can't tell you if genius is hereditary, because heaven has granted me no offspring.