James McNeill Whistler

Harmony in Coral and Blue: Miss Finch

Date c.1882 / 1885
Materials Oil on canvas
Dimensions 191.0 cm x 89.5 cm
Marks None
Further information GLAHA 46321.
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 (237, plate 158).

Note Milly Finch was a professional model who posed for Whistler during the 1880s. For this portrait Whistler used a coarse canvas with a pale grey ground. He sketched in the figure with brown paint and over this applied thin layers of blues, reds and pinks, leaving some areas, such as the hands, less finished than others. Notice how the downward strokes of blue paint on the dress suggest the pleats in the fabric. In painting this portrait, Whistler's main interest was colour and form. Look how well balanced the picture is. The red of her headscarf is matched by the red of her shoes.