Symbolism & Aestheticism · 1875
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket
Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Falling Rocket (1875) by James McNeill Whistler. Its palette is led by graphite (#304036, 35%) and very dark muted green (#142119, 22%). Overall the canvas is dark, muted and warm.
Color notes
The painting at the center of Whistler's 1878 libel case against Ruskin. Whistler won, but was awarded a single farthing.
Whistler titled paintings like music, symphonies, nocturnes and arrangements, to put color harmony ahead of subject. Ruskin accused him of flinging a pot of paint in the public's face; Whistler sued him in 1878 and won a farthing in damages.
Palette
- #304036 MG 218 graphite 34.6% of canvas
- #142119 MG 061 very dark muted green 21.7% of canvas
- #202e25 MG 222 charcoal 20.5% of canvas
- #445342 MG 059 dark muted lime green 14.1% of canvas
- #6f6d3e MG 197 rich olive 9.0% of canvas
Color families
Green 43%, Gray 28%, Black 20%, Brown 10%, Yellow 0%
Measurements
Composition
58% of the visual weight is in the left half, 63% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.30 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 69% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 27% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.
Details
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