The Phantasm of Aesthetic Autonomy in Whistler's Work
Titling the White Girl
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11162703 |
|---|---|
| Authors | AILEEN TSUI (Washington College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 444-475 |
| Publication date | 2006-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Art History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0141-6790 • E-ISSN: 1467-8365 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1467-8365.2006.00509.x |
| OpenAlex | W2168036553 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 1 |
This essay explores how James McNeill Whistler's design and titling of his painting The White Girl (1862) responded to the contradictions between his ideal of aesthetic autonomy and his concern to situate his work in the art markets of London and Paris. Attention to Whistler's ironic deployment of suggestive visual imagery and of titles associated with popular narratives leads to a re‐evaluation of how the painting might have signified for viewers in 1862–3. The essay argues that Whistler negotiated conflicts between aesthetic purity and commercial concerns by designing and titling this canvas to function in different ways for what he posited as distinct audiences: an aesthetically sensitive elite and the general publics in London and Paris. The investigation of Whistler's titling tactics and their implications for his art's position within modernism is extended through analysis of new evidence found in previously unnoticed titular inscriptions on wood engravings after his designs
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Autonomy · Elite · Girl · Literature · Painting · Political science · Politics · Visual arts · White (mutation) · Art History and Market Analysis · Historical Art and Culture Studies · Law · Psychology · Visual Culture and Art Theory
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.12 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2023 (15) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |