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) - James McNeill Whistler

Gift of Walter S. Brewster

American Art Modern Art Paintings Prints

Commentary

"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)" by James McNeill Whistler (c. 1872) invites a close look at how form and feeling work together. Themes to notice include pastel. This piece is held in the source collection's Prints and Drawings collection. James McNeill Whistler is the artist behind this work. A useful anchor for reading the piece: James McNeill Whistler American, 1834-1903. The work is cataloged within a United States cultural context. How to look at this work: It is cataloged as pastel, which gives a clue to how the museum frames the object. Its medium (Pastel (recto), and black chalk with touches of pink and white pastel (verso), on brown wove paper) affects texture, durability, and how detail reads at different distances. Its listed dimensions (22.9 × 12.3 cm (9 1/16 × 4 7/8 in.)) suggest how intimate or monumental it may feel in person. Subject cues from the catalog include pastel. Compare this reading with the museum record at the source collection: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/113070

Sources: Art Institute of Chicago; Art Institute of Chicago / Public Records; Art Institute of Chicago Collection Data