Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The History of Modern Painting, Vol. 4 of 4
Hen the English gallery in the Munich International Exhibition was opened in the summer of 1888 there hung a full-length portrait in the centre of the principal wall. The model was a tall and very slender woman she seemed in the act of stepping away from the spectator towards the back ground oi the picture, and was seen in profile just as she turned her head, throwing back a last glance before vanishing. It was Lady Archibald Camp bell, one oi the most beautiful women in England. In this portrait she lived in all her charm, with her fragile figure, her blond hair, her aristocratic hands and deep eyes. Or, in better words, the likeness gave the essence of her haughty and distinguished beauty, what remains of a figure when the artist has eliminated from his impression everything which is not in the highest degree refined and exquisite. In the face of this sylph-like being as she floated away into the picture there was an expression of slight contempt, as if this beautiful woman had pity on all the plain crowd in the exhibition whom she would have to contemplate, or all the unfortunate, badly painted portraits hanging around. The whole figure stood out in grey against a black back ground, being only enlivened in a soft way by delicate greyish-blue and brownish-grey tones, with a little blond colour and a little rose-colour. Never theless the picture was full of air, a strangely soft harmonious air. It was felt that the model was living, walking, and moving. It was a great work of art, the work of a master, the work of james M 'n eill Whistler. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
