Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

 

Arrangement in Blue and Green

Provenance

Unknown.

Exhibitions

  • 1878: II Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1878 (cat. no. 24) as 'Arrangement in Blue and Green'.

Whistler's portraits and their titles aroused considerable comment, not entirely favourable. 1 The Sheffield Independent on 4 May 1878 called this a 'wretched daub, unworthy of a place in any gallery, public or private.' The critic of The Times on 2 May 1878 described two works by Whistler as:

'two of those vaporous full lengths – of young ladies in this case – it pleases him to call "arrangements" ... as if the colour of the dress imported more than the face; and as if young ladies had no right to feel aggrieved at being converted into "arrangements".' 2

Unfortunately these descriptions do not help to identify the painting.

Notes:

1: i.e. Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery: First Notice', The Magazine of Art, vol. 1, 1878, pp. 30-31.

2: 'The Grosvenor Gallery,' The Times, London, 2 May 1878, p. 7. Repeated in 'The Grosvenor Gallery,' Evening Mail, London, 3 May 1878, p. 1.

Last updated: 31st December 2020 by Margaret