James McNeill Whistler was a British-American painter and printmaker. He was a proponent of "art for art's sake" during the period leading up to the first Modernist movement. Whistler is known for his paintings of nocturnal London, full-length portraits, and black-and-white etchings and lithographs. Throughout his career, he was influenced by various artistic movements and styles, including realism, seascapes, townscapes, the River Thames, the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Japanese prints, and calligraphy. He also appreciated Eastern art and Hellenistic earthenware Tanagra figurines. His Aesthetic portraits, characterized by simple forms and muted tones, were shaped by his attraction to Diego Velazquez’s paintings. Whistler was also a high priest of bohemianism and won a libel suit against John Ruskin, who had attacked his work "Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket" (1875). In his later years, Whistler was somewhat out-of-step with his contemporaries due to his lack of interest in Impressionistic-styled colorful landscapes.