James McNeill Whistler

Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander

Copyright Tate, London 2003/2004
Date 1872-1874
Materials Oil on canvas
Dimensions 190.0 cm x 98.0 cm
Marks Signed with a butterfly at the centre left
Further information Tate Britain, London. www.tate.org.uk
Andrew McLaren Young, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1980 (129, plate 113).

Note Whistler was not only interested in painting, but also in fashion. For this painting he designed the dress that Cicely Alexander wore. Cicely took ballet lessons, as we can see from her elegant pose. Whistler painted with very fluid brushstrokes, particularly evident on the coat and floor. This suggests that the picture was completed quickly and effortlessly. However, it took over 70 long sittings, and Cicely found the strains of holding the same pose for hours on end very difficult. The expression on her face, with her pouting lips, suggests that she was upset and close to tears. This is a very different image from the Victorian ideal of the angelic little girl. Notice that butterflies flutter around Cicely’s head. Whistler adopted the butterfly as his signature in the late 1860s to complement the decorative nature of his paintings.