James Abbott Mcneill Whistler Portrait of Whistler with Hat (1858), Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Portrait of Whistler with Hat 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.