James Abbott McNeill Whistler: 1834-1903

Many of Whistler's paintings were titled with the names of "Harmony", "Arrangements", and "Nocturnes" linking his artistic practice to the ideals of music. Particularly, what I enjoy about a title such as "Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1" (the portrait of Whistler's mother) is its call to the two dimensionality of the medium itself. The title calls into attention the illusion that the black and grey arranged in such a manner create the portrait of his mother. The title seems to abstract the painting into colour shapes placed in a harmonious composition. His choice of titles lends to his philosophy of "art for art's sake". The colours and interplay of line work within his etchings creates a sense of harmony and uniformity amongst his pieces. My eye feels at ease to dance around his image, from colour shape to colour shape, line to line, never offended or caught off guard at a jarring colour that interrupts his creations. The softness of his atmospheric elements are soothing. In his painting "Symphony in White, No 1." (the white girl), the dress and background get lost within each other. Her hair frames her face as the focal point, allowing your eye to then travel down vast whiteness towards the wolf skin rug she stands upon and the wolf face and dropped flowers that capture your attention in the bottom of the composition. The model herself was Whistler's mistress and with that comes associations of innocence lost with the flowers dropped upon the floor and the masculinity of the wolf's skin she stands upon. The symphony in white series continued in other pieces Whistler created. Overall, it is the atmospheric muted tones Whistler establishes that pleases my eye and allows me to travel around the pieces locating lost and found edges.