In 1877 Whistler sued the critic John Ruskin for libel after the critic condemned his painting Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket. Whistler exhibited the work in the Grosvenor Gallery that year alongside Edward Burne-Jones and others, and was reviewed by Ruskin in his publication Fors Clavigera on the July 2nd, 1877. Ruskin praised Burne-Jones, whilst he attacked Whistler:
- For Mr. Whistler's own sake, no less than for the protection of the purchaser, Sir Coutts Lindsay [founder of the Grosvenor Gallery] ought not to have admitted works into the gallery in which the ill-educated conceit of the artist so nearly approached the aspect of willful imposture. I have seen, and heard, much of Cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face.[citation needed]
The case came to trial the following year and was heard at the Queen's Bench of the High Court from November 25th to 26th 1878. The lawyer for John Ruskin, Attorney General Sir John Holker, cross examined Whistler;
(wiki... look there for sources...)
- Holker: "What is the subject of Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket?"
- Whistler: "It is a night piece and represents the fireworks at Cremorne Gardens."
- Holker: "Not a view of Cremorne?"
- Whistler: "If it were A View of Cremorne it would certainly bring about nothing but disappointment on the part of the beholders. It is an artistic arrangement. That is why I call it a nocturne...."
- Holker: "Did it take you much time to paint the Nocturne in Black and Gold? How soon did you knock it off?"
- Whistler: "Oh, I 'knock one off' possibly in a couple of days - one day to do the work and another to finish it..." [the painting measures 24 3/4 x 18 3/8 inches]
- Holker: "The labour of two days is that for which you ask two hundred guineas?"
- Whistler: "No, I ask it for the knowledge I have gained in the work of a lifetime."[3]
