Study for "Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle"
1872–73
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
28.6 × 21 cm (11 1/4 × 8 1/4 in.)
Classification
painting
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
3551
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In 1872, James McNeill Whistler began a large-scale portrait of Scottish historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who lived near the artist in London. Whistler executed several studies, including this one, which strongly resembles the finished painting. Carlyle endured numerous sittings, as Whistler labored over the portrait with particular emphasis on the aesthetics of the sitter’s black coat. Concerned with harmonious arrangements of color and form, the artist was less interested in depicting...
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...