Technique

Snow, private collection

The distant buildings and those at right are slightly blurred and misty, blending with the washes of the sky (where Whistler used opaque white as well as thin washes of warm greys). Details were painted with economical, expressive brushstrokes, with a fine pointed brush, leaving large areas of paper bare to convey the effect of snow. The active little figures walk with legs well apart, trying not to slip!

Conservation History

The edges of the paper, originally covered by the mount, are slightly browned.