Stitching Identity: Analyzing the Use of Color and Fashion in Portraiture by James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Morgan Boudousquie

Advisor: Dr. Michael Charlesworth

Abstract

James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) was a persona, a carefully constructed character; A state of being in which he reveled. Every aspect of his personality—his chosen wardrobe, outspoken beliefs, etc.—all played into a larger, grandiose version of himself. Adornments that furthered his public image as a true ‘artistic genius’; The man who could create life and beauty from nothing. While his penchant for bohemian life and its indulgences left a trail of disarray and strife in its midst, there was a control—an exacting nature that rivaled such frivolity—discerned within the contents of his portraiture. Just as his own public image was carefully curated in all facets by the artist, those he chose to depict in thick layers of oil paint succumbed to the will of Whistler. His perception trumping reality, trumping the sense of self contrived within these subjects’ own psyche.

Relying on a select few pieces that depict female subjects—friends, mistresses, acquaintances, etc. of the artist—within the larger body of Whistler’s portfolio, this thesis will analyze the artistic process of these works, specifically the intentionality exemplified in their formal qualities, within the context of existing relationships between artist and sitter. I will argue that the artist’s process of selecting color palettes and fashion later utilized within these life-size portraits was directly influenced by the relationship he held with these women, and, in turn, skewed the public’s perception of the piece.