Study for "Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs. Louis Huth" (recto); Study for "Symphony in Flesh Color and Pink: Portrait of Mrs. Frances Leyland" (verso)
c. 1872
Medium
Pastel (recto), and black chalk with touches of pink and white pastel (verso), on brown wove paper
Dimensions
22.9 × 12.3 cm (9 1/16 × 4 7/8 in.)
Classification
pastel
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
113070
Art Historical Context
This double-sided drawing by James McNeill Whistler, created around 1872, offers a rare glimpse into the American-born artist's meticulous preparatory process. The recto features a pastel study for *Arrangement in Black, No 2: Portrait of. Louis Huth*, the verso holds a delicate black chalk sketch with pink and white pastel accents for *Symphony Flesh Color and Pink: of Mrs. Frances Ley*. At just 22.9 × 12.3 cm, this intimate sheet on brown wove paper capturesistler's focus on portraiture during a pivotal moment in his career, when he was crafting his signature Aestheticist portraits for Londo...
About the Artist
James McNeill Whistler · 1834–1903
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was an American-born painter and printmaker who became a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement and pioneer of Tonalism and Japonisme. He revolutionized art by championing "art for art's sake" and treating paintings as visual equivalents of musical compositions, titling works as "arrangements," "harmonies," and "nocturnes" to emphasize formal qualities o...