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James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Harmony in Blue: The Duet, ca. 1874

Description

Maker

  • James Abbott McNeill Whistler, 1834-1903, American

Title

Harmony in Blue: The Duet

Year

ca. 1874

Medium

Oil on panel

Materials/Techniques

Materials

  • oil paint

Supports

  • panel

Dimensions

27.3 x 47 cm (10 3/4 x 18 inches)

Type

  • Paintings

Credit

Jesse Metcalf Fund

Object Number

14.083

Projects & Publications

Publications

Selected Works

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Making It In America

October 11, 2013 - February 9, 2014

After brief careers as a West Point cadet and a surveyor, Whistler studied painting in France. His personal style referenced the sparseness and asymmetry of Japanese art and equated color ranges with musical forms.

Here Whistler introduces three characters from the commedia dell’arte—a humorous theatrical presentation with stock characters—who enact a dreamlike performance. Harlequin plays the violin while Pierrot and a companion sing a duet, enveloped in a hazy blue light. The result is a union of theme, color, and setting, a key tenet of the Aesthetic style, which promoted the creation of a harmonious environment.

An American Idyll

April 6, 2007 - January 6, 2008

American Paintings from the Museum's Collection

February 10 - April 1, 1999

After Eden

April 26 - December 29, 1996

Romanticism and Revival

December 4, 1992 - June 26, 1993

American Painting and Sculpture from the Permanent Collection

June 26, 1987 - January 3, 1988

Days Gone By

July 1 - September 26, 1971

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Harmony in Blue: The Duet with the accession number of 14.083. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

Feedback

We view our online collection as a living documents, and our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you have additional information or have spotted an error, please send feedback to curatorial@risd.edu.

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