University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Whistler's Nocturnes: A Case Study in Musical Modelling

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 05:00 authored by Arabella Teniswood-HarveyArabella Teniswood-Harvey
The American-born, London-based artist James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) was a pivotal figure in the transition between nineteenth-century modernism and twentieth-century abstraction. His significance lies largely in his use of music as a model to explore and justify his interest in the self-sufficiency of pictorial technique. Throughout his life, Whistler clearly indicated his musical interest by producing images of music-making (including a portrait of his friend Pablo de Sarasate) and—from 1867 onwards —by using the titles Symphony, Harmony, Variations, Nocturne, Arrangement, Note, Scherzo, Bravura, and Caprice. Most significantly however, the actual language and experience of music informed his approach to color and composition. Whistler’s Nocturnes—images without musical subject matter—are used as a case study to demonstrate the ways in which he emulated musical operations in his art. Illustrating the aesthetic and formal similarities between these Nocturnes and their musical counterpart, discussed are the ways in which Whistler modeled his approach to color on musical tonality; referenced the visual layout of a score and the texture of music; and employed musical elements such as rhythm, pulse, attack and decay, counterpoint and melodic voicing in his art. web.gc.cuny.edu/rcmi

History

Publication title

Music in Art

Volume

35

Issue

no. 1-2

Pagination

71-83

ISSN

1522-7464

Department/School

School of Creative Arts and Media

Publisher

City University of New York, Research Center for Music Iconography

Place of publication

New York, N.Y.

Rights statement

Copyright 2012 Research Center for Music Iconography

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Arts not elsewhere classified

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Categories

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC