Whistler's own title, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, insists this is a study in tone rather than a portrait. His mother, Anna McNeill Whistler, sits in profile against a grey wall in their Chelsea home, in a black dress and white cap. Shown at the Royal Academy in 1872 after nearly being rejected, it was bought by the French state in 1891.
Look closer
The framed print on the wall is Whistler's own etching Black Lion Wharf. The dark patterned curtain at left is the only break in the grey and black.
Looks like this
Compared by a vision model
