James McNeill Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts.He spent five years of his childhood (1843-1848) in St. Petersburg, Russia, where his father, George Whistler a railroad engineer, was employed in the building of the St. Petersburg-Moscow railroad.In St. Petersburg young James received his first art lessons in the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts and also learnt French.“James McNeill Whistler’s position in the history of British art is as paradoxical as his personality: flamboyant dandy and wit, he was also a serious craftsman, tirelessly dedicated to the perfection of his art. Having learned much from his French and English contemporaries, he nevertheless emerged as an isolated figure who attracted followers but established no leading style.