Arrangement in Black and Brown: The Fur Jacket
Artist
James McNeill Whistler
(American, 1834–1903)
Date1877
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionscanvas: 193 x 92.6 cm (76 x 36 7/16 in.)
ClassificationsPaintings
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1910.5
Label TextBorn in Lowell, Massachusetts, Whistler went to Paris in 1855 to study art and lived the rest of his life in Europe. He was initially influenced by the French realist painter Courbet, whom he befriended, and his early development parallels that of the Impressionists. But in 1859 he settled in London, and his later career developed more or less independently of French painting. Instead of the brilliant effects attempted by the Impressionists, Whistler was painting delicate scenes of fog and twilight.
This painting is a typical one for Whistler, emphasizing the decorative composition of shapes and colors. He often used terms such as "arrangement" and "harmony" to evoke musical comparisons with visual imagery. In the emphasis upon abstract design and subtle shifts in tone and color, Whistler was influenced by Japanese prints and predicted the movement towards pure abstraction in the twentieth century.
Whistler himself always retained a recognizable subject in his pictures: Arrangement in Black and Brown is a portrait of his mistress, Maud Franklin. But the identity of the figure is less important than the elegance of the forms and the subtle use of thin layers of paint.
ProvenanceMr. H. Graves (London) [dates unknown], Mr. A. Reed (London) [dates unknown], William Burrell; William Macbeth, New York NY; Worcester Art Museum, 1910.On View
Not on viewCollections