Composition

There are two pastel studies for the portrait. One (r.: Study for 'Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs Louis Huth'; v.: Study for 'Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland' [M.0454]) in the Art Institute of Chicago, shows a similar composition, except that the train is not fully realised, the curtain behind the figure is decorated with embroidery and there is matting on the floor. 1 The other (Study for 'Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs Louis Huth' [M.0455]), in the Ashmolean Museum, is closer to the final design, and is squared for transfer; it shows the curtain coming right across at the back: it is also in a much lighter, brighter key than the dark colours in the final painting. 2

Technique

It is thinly painted, the face having a smooth matt surface, but highlights on the neck, collar, lace and hands show clearly defined strokes of the brush. The hair appears to have been rubbed down where it adjoins her skin, as part of the painting process. The hands were painted over the black dress, which shows through the thin, almost translucent, paint. A broader brush was used to define the floor, particularly where it adjoined the skirt. The black background is almost entirely smooth, the brushstrokes blending together; the edges of the skirt have a soft, undefined outline.

The Pennells wrote that in Arrangement in Black: Portrait of F. R. Leyland [YMSM 097] and Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs Louis Huth,

'Whistler carried out his method of putting in the whole picture at once. The background was as much a part of the design as the face. If anything went wrong anywhere the whole picture had to come out and be started again ... the system taught by Gleyre, and developed in the Nocturnes was perfected in the portraits of Leyland and Mrs Huth. The tones, made from a very few colours of infinite gradations, were mixed on the great palette, with black as the basis.' 3

Conservation History

Unknown. Photographs suggest that it has been rubbed down slightly and has darkened a little.

Frame

Portrait Whistler frame, 1872/1873. 4