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Arrangement in Flesh Color and Brown: Portrait of Arthur Jerome Eddy

Very dark painting of a light-skinned, mostly clean-shaven young man in dark suit and dark full-length coat, holding a rolled-up paper and gloves.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Very dark painting of a light-skinned, mostly clean-shaven young man in dark suit and dark full-length coat, holding a rolled-up paper and gloves.

Date:

1894

Artist:

James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)

About this artwork

James McNeill Whistler created thinly painted compositions with flat, nearly abstract passages, purposefully subtle in character. He called works such as this one an “arrangement,” emphasizing formal elements rather than subject matter. The painting still serves as a portrait—it was commissioned by Chicago attorney Arthur Jerome Eddy, a collector and advocate of modern art. After seeing Whistler’s work at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in the city, Eddy traveled to the artist’s studio in Paris expressly to sit for this portrait. The two became lasting friends, and Eddy published a book on Whistler after the artist’s death in 1903.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

James McNeill Whistler

Title

Arrangement in Flesh Color and Brown: Portrait of Arthur Jerome Eddy

Place

Paris (Place depicted)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1894

Medium

Oil on canvas

Inscriptions

Signed, recto, middle right: [butterfly monogram] Signed and dated, canvas verso, upper right: "Arrangement in / Flesh Colour & Brown, / Portrait of / Arthur J. Eddy." / Of Chicago. / [butterfly monogram] / Painted in my Studio in / Paris. / October. 1894. / J. McNeill Whistler.

Dimensions

210.7 × 93.3 cm (82 15/16 × 36 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Arthur Jerome Eddy Memorial Collection

Reference Number

1931.501

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/8958/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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