Wapping

A crowded stretch of the River Thames stretches out behind three people relaxing on a balcony at the Angel inn in Wapping, a busy dock area in London's East End. James McNeill Whistler worked on this painting through the early 1860s, returning to it again and again before finishing it in 1864. The red-haired woman is Joanna Hiffernan, his model and partner, and the bearded man leaning beside her is Alphonse Legros, a fellow painter and friend. Behind them, a tangle of masts, ropes, and boats fills the water with the everyday clutter of a working harbor.

The scene hides a bit of drama. Whistler first meant the woman to seem like a flirtatious character, maybe a prostitute chatting with sailors, but he softened that idea over the years to keep things proper. The finished result plays two moods against each other, with the sharp, almost photographic detail of the busy docks set against the loose, easy poses of the figures up front. Whistler loved the Thames and painted it many times across his life. This early work shows his taste for real city life, dirt and bustle included, rather than anything neat or grand.