ANewYorkTimesBookReviewEditors’ChoiceTheuntoldstoryoftheartisticbattlebetweenJamesAbbotMacNeillWhistlerandJohnRuskinoverWhistler’scontroversial,ground-breakingNocturneinBlackandGold:TheFallingRocket.InNovember1878,America’sgreatestpaintersuedEngland’sgreatestcriticforabadreview.Thepainterwon--butruinedhimselfintheprocess.Thepainter:JamesAbbotMacNeillWhistler,whosecombinationofincredibletalent,unflaggingenergy,andrelentlessself-promotionhadbythattimebroughthimtotheveryedgeofartisticpreeminence.Thecritic:JohnRuskin,SladeProfessorofArtatOxfordUniversity,whosefour-decades’worthofprolificandhighlyrespectedliteraryoutputonaestheticshadmadehimEngland’sunchallengedandseeminglyunchallengeablearbiterofart.ThoughWhistlerandRuskinbothlivedinLondonandmovedinthesameartisticworld,theyhad,untilJune,1877,managedtoremainentirelyclearofoneanother.ThiswasunusualbecauseWhistlerhadamercurialtemperament,abelligerentpersonality,andseemedtothriveonopposition:heoncechallengedamantoaduelbecausethemanaccusedthepainterofsleepingwithhiswife.(Whistlerhad,infact,sleptwiththeman’swife.)ThatNovember,JohnRuskinwalkedintotheGrosvenorGallery’snewexhibitionofartandgazedwithhorroruponWhistler’sNocturneinBlackandGold:TheFallingRocket.ThepaintingwasWhistler’sinterpretationofafireworksdisplayatalocalpleasuregarden.ButtoRuskinitwasnothingmorethanachaotic,incomprehensiblemessofbrightspotsupondarkmasses:notartbutitsantithesis--adisturbinganddisgustingassaultuponeverythinghehadeverwrittenortaughtonthesubject.Hequicklychanneledthatangerintoaseethingreview.Theinternationally-reported,widelydiscussed,andhugely-entertainingtrialthatfollowedwasatitanicbattlebetweentheopposingideasandidealsoftwolarger-than-lifepersonalities.Forthesetwoprotagonists,WhistlervRuskinwasthebattleofalifetime--ormoreaccurately,abattleoftheirtwolifetimes.PaulThomasMurphy’sFallingRocketalsorecountsJamesWhistler’sturbulentbuttriumphantdevelopmentfromartisticoblivioninthe1880stoartisticdeificationinthe1890s,andalsoRuskin’sisolated,befogged,silentfinalyearsafterhispublichumiliation.ThestoryofWhistlervRuskinhasadramaticarcofitsown,butthisrivetingnewbookalsovividlyevokesanartisticworldinenergeticmotion,culturallyandsocially,inthelastdecadesofthenineteenthcentury.
