In this spy-on-the-canvas portrait of James McNeill Whistler, Sarah Walden—the renowned restorer of The Mother—pieces together the intriguing relationship between the sitter and her famous son, the role of women in his life, and his friendships with Oscar Wilde, Proust, Manet, and Monet. Walden's unique vantage point offers a rare insight into Whistler's larger-than-life personality, the birth of modern art, and America’s first masterpiece.