Art Analysis: James Abbott's 'The Doorway'

1. Description

The art-piece above was created by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. James named the art-piece, The Doorway (Sutton). It was created using “Etching and Dry-point With Roulette Printed in Brown” (“The Doorway - James Abbott…”). In the etching you see a couple of vaguely outlined people, in specific there are 3 people. You cannot make out their gender, race, or sex as they are silhouettes and appear almost ghost-like. The person upfront seems to be an individual sweeping off the stairs to a doorway with a broom. This individual looks vaguely like a female maid. There is another person that is within doorway that seems to be leaning against the wall with a hood on. This individual is looking directly at the viewer, as if he/she is

At the end of the hallway there is another person sitting down in a chair. There are no other discernable features to the third person, as I can only just barely make-out his/her outline. The background, of this doorway and deep vestibule, is three large windows with what seem to be broken, and to a certain degree even rotted looking, glass panes. The outer structure of the glass panes also seems old and rotting. However, you can clearly see that at one point this was a very large, beautiful, and decorative building or mansion. If I had to guess, I would say that the artist was trying to portray a structure that has withstood many years without much care or maintenance. Lastly, at the back of the hallway there a barred window that has uninterrupted light coming through. There does not seem to be any window panes in the back window and it clearly shows daylight pouring through. Thus, it is likely that the time presented in the image is around

The ambiguous look gives the etching a whole new depth and I believe it be an intentional feature of the art-piece. The first element that I noticed in The Doorway is “Line”. More specifically, James uses quite a lot of implied lines to help gives his image a sense of fog or distorted reality. If you look at the right-side window of the building you will see a part of the window not even created. However, you know it is there because the lines imply that there is in fact window there. Another example of implied lines is the person standing in the hallway with a hood on. Even though you can’t directly make out a hood, you can clearly see lines implying that the individual is wearing a hood. Another prominent element used within The Doorway is “Value.” James uses value through the technique of shading. For instance, if you look down the hall of the image, there is clearly natural light pouring through the window to put focus on the unrecognizable person that is sitting back there. He/She is clearly completing a task and the artist wanted to draw your eyes to it by manipulating the light to seem natural and unintentional. Another example of shading is the actual people presented in the image. They are not defined individuals, but rather delicate shadows created through the manipulation of the light and gradation. The most prominent principle used in The Doorway is