The gentle art of making enemies – James Abbott McNeill Whistler (Cara O'Keeffe) Cara O'Keeffe narrates the career of American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who in 1871 published a series of darkly realistic etchings of the Thames, instead of the romanticised, acceptable views of that period. This is also the story of the artist's fiery friendships with Oscar Wilde and Walter Sickert, and of how he came to write The Gentle Art of Making Enemies.

Long Shore Men, James Abbott McNeil Whistler, 1859. Repro ID: PU8035. ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Objects referenced

• Limehouse, 1859 by Whistler
• The Pool, 1859 by Whistler

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