Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Carlyle

James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834–1903)

1872-73

Oil on canvas

171 x 143.5 cm.

Collection: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland.

Source of image and caption material: Wikipedia

Théodore Duret, whose portrait [plate] Whistler also painted, points out that "although the pose in the portrait of Carlyle was fundamentally the same as that of his mother, Whistler avoided a pure and simple repetition of his first effect by resting the right hand of his model on a stick, putting a felt hat on his knee and draping his legs with a cloak. Carlyle must not be given the credit of wishing to have his portrait done by Whistler because he recognised his merit and esteemed him to be a great painter. Carlyle, to whom painting is said to have been a closed book, lived near to Whistler in Cheyne Walk [photograph], and it was merely as a friend and neighbour that he consented to sit for hira. Whistler, having made the acquaintance of the Sage, asked if he might paint him, and Carlyle, who enjoyed the hours that he spent sitting and talking to Whistler as a relaxation from work, was probably quite unaware of the fact that the finest portrait of him that posterity was to possess was then being painted." (79-80).

References

Duret, Theodore [the original French edition has "Théodore"]. Whistler. Trans. Frank Rutter. New York: J. B. Lippincott, 1907; London: Grant Richards, 1907. New York Public Library copy made available online by the Internet Archive. Web. 14 January 2012.

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Last modified 16 January 2012