James Abbott Mcneill Whistler Arrangement in Grey and Black: The Artist's Mother (1871), popularly known as Whistler's Mother, Mus??e d'Orsay, Paris Arrangement in Grey and Black American Tonalist Painter and Printmaker, 1834-1903, He was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger for a tail.