James Abbott McNeill Whistler

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.