“I wrote the first generally accepted History of American Art—it is not likely that an alien enemy would devote ten years of his life to such a task.”

Claiming patriotic labour through scholarship · Wartime self-defence statement

• America
• Art
• History

“To make rhymeless lines read like a poem is the most laborious task a songsmith can set himself.”

Defending technical difficulty as artistic choice · Instead of a Preface, My Rubaiyat

• Craft
• Poetry
• Writing

“A new art form is always the expression of a new spirit. In painting the new spirit is rebellious.”

Linking formal invention to revolt of spirit · The Whistler Book

• Art
• Rebellion
• Spirit