Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother

Charles Augustus Howell, a cunning entrepreneur as well as a friend of Whistler, commissioned Richard Josey to create this mezzotint of Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 in 1878. Whistler was struggling financially and hoped that the sale of the print would generate funds at the same time that he was using the painting itself as collateral against badly needed loans. A process that reached its apogee in 18th-century England, mezzotint printmaking involves a subtractive process of burnishing away the rough surface of a metal plate gradually to reveal highlights. The subtle gradations of black and gray that Josey could achieve using this medium reinforced Whistler’s harmonic composition of muted tones.