Symbolism & Aestheticism · 1871
Whistler's Mother
Whistler's Mother (1871) by James McNeill Whistler. Its palette is led by warm grey (#7e7d6d, 28%) and very dark olive (#1d1c13, 28%), with accents of pale grey. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, muted and warm.
Color notes
Whistler's own title is Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: he meant it as a study in color harmony.
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
- #7e7d6d MG 174 warm grey 28.3% of canvas
- #1d1c13 MG 196 very dark olive 27.6% of canvas
- #36352b MG 177 dark taupe 22.3% of canvas
- #4a4733 MG 194 dark golden olive 17.7% of canvas
- #cec9c3 MG 212 pale grey 4.1% of canvas
Color families
Brown 64%, Black 24%, Gray 12%, Yellow 0%, White 0%
Measurements
Composition
50% of the visual weight is in the left half, 66% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.06 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 68% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 21% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.
Details
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