Vet your Whistler on web

Glasgow University has launched a website highlighting the life and work of one of its most illustrious honorary graduates, artist James McNeill Whistler.

The university houses an unparalleled collection of Whistler paintings, prints, letters and memorabilia, including his spectacles and his silverware collection.

Whistler, an American of Scottish descent, had a great fondness for Glasgow, whose city corporation was the first public body to buy one of his works, a portrait of the philosopher Thomas Carlyle.

Whistler's sister-in-law and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip, bequeathed his estate to the university. It is now housed in the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery.

Monica Callaghan, the Hunterian's education officer, said: "Hopefully, this website will make our unique Whistler collection accessible to a wider range of people who might not be able to visit the University of Glasgow."

The site is not limited to work held in Glasgow. It also includes key images from the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the portrait of Whistler's Mother from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Details: www.mr-whistlers-art.info