James McNeill Whistler

Sketch for Annabel Lee

Date c.1869-1870
Materials Oil on wood
Dimensions 30.7 cm x 22.6 cm
Marks None
Further information GLAHA 46378.
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 (80, plate 61).

Note In this preparatory sketch Whistler painted directly on to an unprepared wood panel. Look how the diagonal grain of the wood can still be seen, particularly over the body of the girl. The orange-brown colour of the wood also shows through in places. Whistler used fairly dry paint and applied it quickly so that the model’s features, clothing and surroundings were only briefly suggested. The overall effect was beauty in colour and form. Notice how he used the yellow railings behind the girl as a kind of decorative grid. The picture was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Annabel Lee", about a girl who lived "by the sea", but there is no suggestion of a story in this picture. The poem lacked narrative and descriptive detail, and in this way it would have appealed to Whistler who believed that paintings should be beautiful and without content.

Related works GLAHA 46344.