Note in Pink and Brown

Note in Pink and Brown

James McNeill Whistler

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

While visiting Venice in 1879–80 to make a series of etchings for the Fine Art Society, London, Whistler also made almost one hundred pastels, including this evocative example of an everyday scene along one of the city’s canals. The title of this picture reflects the musical vocabulary that Whistler used to identify much of his work. The pink "note" is the drapery hung from the balcony at upper left (echoed in the tint of the woman’s dress and some of the bricks on the building’s facade); the brown is the window frame above. One critic described the pastels as "perfect works" for their ability to evoke the essence of the city with only the "slightest sketch."

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Note in Pink and BrownNote in Pink and BrownNote in Pink and BrownNote in Pink and BrownNote in Pink and Brown

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.