James McNeill Whistler - Arrangement in Black, No.3 Sir Henry Irving as Philip II of Spain 1876

Note in Red, The Siesta 1884 St. John the Apostle Evangelist 1875 The Seamstress 1875 Arrangement in Black, No.3 Sir Henry Irving as Philip II of Spain 1876 Arrangement in Brown and Black. Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder 1876 Arrangement in White and Black 1876 Nocturne in Grey and Gold. Chelsea Snow 1876
Arrangement in Black, No.3 Sir Henry Irving as Philip II of Spain 1876

Arrangement in Black, No.3 1876
Sir Henry Irving as Philip II of Spain
215x108cm oil/canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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From Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York:
Whistler's portrait of the great Victorian actor Henry Irving (1838–1895) recalls Diego Velázquez's court portraits in its format, pose, and restricted palette of black, white, silvery grays, and golden ochers. Whistler had been impressed by Irving's 1876 appearance in the role of the grandfather of Philip IV, Velázquez's patron, in Alfred Lord Tennyson's verse play Queen Mary Tudor. Discussing Whistler's canvas in 1907, the actress Ellen Terry suggested the associations with Velázquez that the actor and the artist might have had in mind in emulating the Spanish master's style