The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Arrangement in Blue and Green may have been painted in 1876, 1877 or early 1878.

It was first exhibited in II Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1878 (cat. no. 24) as 'Arrangement in Blue and Green'. ¹

Images

Subject

Titles

Only one title is known:

• 'Arrangement in Blue and Green' (1878, Grosvenor). ²
• 'Arrangement in Blue and Green' (1980, YMSM). ³

Arrangement in Blue and Green y193 may have been one of a series of 'Blue Girls', possibly The Blue Girl: Maud Franklin y112.

Description

It was described by Blackburn as a 'full-length portrait of a young lady.' ⁴ One reviewer said the portrait had 'the appearance of a young lady attired either in an indigo riding habit or in the gaberdine ... of a blue coat boy.' ⁵ Similarly the Dublin Evening Telegraph on 6 May 1878 described it as 'the portrait of a young lady which every one mistakes for that of a Blue-coat boy with a long gaberdine of blue and light riding habit of a dim green.' A blue frock coat, high necked, buttoned closely over the chest, with a belt, and with full long skirts, was the traditional uniform of boys from the charity Bluecoat Schools.

A more detailed but unflattering description appeared in The Ipswich Journal. After asserting that 'a friendly cynic' suggested that Whistler should not send the portrait to the Grosvenor, the critic added:

'his "arrangement in blue and green" hangs upon Sir Coutts Lindsay's walls, a hideous deformity. It is a tall girl, whose face is a mere lifeless and senseless daub, while her bombazine skirts, looming heavily on a dark background of no particular colour, constitutes the artist's "arrangement in blue and green," with which he flatters the public.' ⁶

Bombazine was a fine twilled fabric, and could be of silk, a silk-mix, worsted or cotton. It was often dyed black for mourning but obviously in this case it was blue.

The Magazine of Art merely stated said the model wore a 'blue velvet dress, which is imitatively treated', while the British Architect specified the colour as 'peacock blue.' ⁷ However, the colour was clearly not dominant: the Newcastle Courant commented on 3 May 1878 that 'Mr. Whistler's "Arrangement in blue and green," and "Harmony in blue and yellow," have anything but an agreeable effect, the outlines of the figures being in a great measure lost and merged into the background.'

Sitter

It was probably a portrait of Maud Franklin (1857-1939), for it was compared with Arrangement in White and Black y185, which was in the same exhibition: 'two full length portraits of the same lady, one in peacock blue, the other in white satin.' ⁸

Technique

Technique

The Magazine of Art commented on 'some really fine and finished texture-painting in the blue velvet dress, which is imitatively treated, while the face is purely impressionary – a queer combination.' ⁹

Conservation History

Unknown.

Frame

Unknown.

History

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. ¹⁰ 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".' ¹¹

Unfortunately these descriptions do not help to identify the painting.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 193) as 'Arrangement in Blue and Green'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• II Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1878 (cat. no. 24) as 'Arrangement in Blue and Green'.
• Blackburn, Henry, Grosvenor Notes, London, 1878, p. 14.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery,' The Times, London, 2 May 1878, p. 7.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery,' Evening Mail, London, 3 May 1878, p. 1.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery,' Newcastle Courant, Newcastle, 3 May 1878, p. 6.
• Anon., 'Metropolitan Notes', Sheffield Independent, 4 May 1878, p. 6.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery,' Dublin Evening Telegraph, Dublin, 6 May 1878, p. 2.
• Anon., 'London Notes', The Ipswich Journal, 7 May 1878, p. 2.

Journals 1855-1905

• The British Architect and Northern Engineer, vol. 9, no. 21, 24 May 1878.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery: First Notice', The Magazine of Art, vol. 1, 1878, pp. 30-31.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Duret, Théodore, Histoire de J. McN. Whistler et de son oeuvre, Paris, 1904, p. 66.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, p. 139.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• None.

Journals 1906-Present

• None.

Websites

• None.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 136).

Other

• None.