The Toilet

Whistler presents his model and mistress Maud Franklin standing in a trailing gown, its ruffles more attentively rendered than her face. There is little evidence of the morning toilette referenced in the title; instead, the woman’s turning, dancelike pose seems to be the true subject. As she pivots, her dress spreads behind her, lending the scene a sense of movement revolving around the outstretched fan. At left, Whistler’s monogram in the shape of a butterfly—an animal that flutters much like a fan—reinforces the strong influence the arts of Japan had upon him, as artist’s seals and butterfly imagery were common within that tradition. Whistler’s interest in capturing motion continued with his subscription, in 1887, to the photographer Eadweard Muybridge’s Animal Locomotion (see the plate of a woman with a fan nearby).