James McNeill Whistler (Lowell, Massachusetts, 1834 - 1903, London, England)
Proposition, 1884
Lithograph, 49.85 x 32.54 cm (19 5/8 x 12 13/16 in.)
Long Gallery
Commentary
James McNeill Whistler’s writing expressed his rebellious artistic persona. First published in 1884, “Proposition” describes his beliefs about painting in the lofty manner of a mystic or prophet: “A picture is finished when all trace of the means used to bring about the end has disappeared.” His words read as a tart rejoinder to his friend Henry James, who wrote in 1882 that Whistler’s “manner of painting is to breathe upon canvas.”