Arrangement in Gray: Portrait of the Painter

This self-portrait by James McNeill Whistler, dated to around 1872, shows the artist standing in profile, gaze directed beyond the frame, wearing a coat and hat that offer little colour. The almost monochrome palette, dominated by greys and blacks, reflects Whistler's concern with tonal harmony, an idea captured in the alternative title Arrangement in Gray. He was living and working in Chelsea, on the banks of the Thames, when he painted it, and the work reflects his ambition to be recognised as a portraitist within the long European tradition. To place it in that lineage, it is often compared with Rembrandt's 1659 Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar, a clear point of reference for any painter wishing to present himself as a serious artist. The picture is now in the Detroit Institute of Arts, which acquired it in 1934.

Painter

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1872

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

75 × 53 cm

Museum

Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit

Genre

portrait, self-portrait

Depicts

James McNeill Whistler

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