Why was James Abbott McNeill Whistler'sNocturne in Black and Gold, The Falling Rocket considered controversial and how did Whistler respond to the controversy? Include in your analysis a discussion of the formal characteristics and subject matter of the painting.

What will be an ideal response?

The ideal answer should include:
1. Whistler's Nocturne in Black and Gold, The Falling Rocket depicts a fireworks show viewed over a lake by several observers dimly recognizable in the foreground.
2. Critic John Ruskin found Whistler's work disturbingly unfinished and devoid of moral purpose, asking in print how the artist could demand such high prices "for flinging a pot of paint in the public's face."
3. Whistler sued Ruskin for libel, stating that art had no higher purpose than creating visual delight ant that it needed no identifiable subject matter to be successful; he also argue that the prices he charged for his pictures compensated him not just for the two days it took to paint them but also for his accrued knowledge.
4. The trial was decided in Whistler's favor, and, while Whistler himself never made a completely abstract painting, his theories became important for justifying abstract art in the next century.