1868, James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in Green and Violet -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label: Whistler builds shapes with loose brushstrokes in white and blue. The closely cropped pair of women lean against a mantle. As in each of The Six Projects, details of Whistler's models remain indistinct. Instead, these studies focus on the overall arrangement of color and form to fashion ethereal and nearly abstract images defined by visible streaks of paint across the surface of the canvas. Whistler hoped such effects would lure audiences away from attempting to read narrative in his paintings, allowing instead for viewers to revel in the beauty of the works' surfaces.
1868, James McNeill Whistler, Symphony in Green and Violet -- National Museum of Asian Art (Washington)
From the museum label: Whistler builds shapes with loose brushstrokes in white and blue. The closely cropped pair of women lean against a mantle. As in each of The Six Projects, details of Whistler's models remain indistinct. Instead, these studies focus on the overall arrangement of color and form to fashion ethereal and nearly abstract images defined by visible streaks of paint across the surface of the canvas. Whistler hoped such effects would lure audiences away from attempting to read narrative in his paintings, allowing instead for viewers to revel in the beauty of the works' surfaces.