A FESTIVAL commemorating the life and art of James McNeill Whistler will be revealed as a resounding success today by the minister of culture.
The Whistler Festival in Glasgow will be credited with attracting a surge in overseas tourism to the city.
Many visitors were particularly attracted by the chance to see Whistler's most famous painting, Arrangement in Grey and Black No 1, also known as Whistler's Mother, which was shown outside Paris for the first time in many years.
The festival, held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Whistler's death, led to a rise of between 12% and 17% in overseas visitors to Glasgow galleries.
For the Hunterian Gallery at Glasgow University, which displayed Whistler's Mother, it meant a 70% increase in visitors between June and October.
The Hunterian is home to Whistler's artistic estate, and the highlight of this year's celebrations was the loan of the painting of his mother, valued at about (pounds) 30m, from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.
Whistler had great affection for Scotland, and Glasgow in particular.
The Glasgow Corporation was the first body to buy one of his works for public display when in 1891 it bought his portrait of Thomas Carlyle, which is still in the city's collection and is on show at the McLellan Galleries in the city centre.
Born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1834, Whistler had Scottish lineage on his mother's side, and in 1903 the University of Glasgow honoured him with an honorary Doctor of Law degree.
Eddie Friel, chief executive of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board, which undertook a marketing campaign based around the centenary celebrations, said: ''We were delighted to be able to work closely with the Hunterian Art Gallery to maximise the impact of Whistler 2003.''
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