James Abbott McNeill Whistler // Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket

(1834 – 1903) 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.