James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1875). Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket [oil on canvas]. Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Michigan.

Whistler seems to have created a work of realism that deliberately confuses its subject matter. I believe he communicates the terminal arc of a celebratory rocket well. The confusion about the nature of this piece and directionality threating to push beyond the left edge of the canvas create a distinct lack of balance pictorially and in movement. The theme of drama is repeated in Whistler’s masterful choice to juxtapose extremes in tone to create what is effectively the subject against a stable, nebulous background. Formal equivalencies, a version of balance, are nearly impossible to find. This sparkling value pattern is foundational to tracking the motion of the rocket.

Whistler takes advantage of a nearly total lack of light to reduce color to a diluted and simple split-complementary color scheme. Warmed oranges are set in opposition to blues and aqua greens. An interesting contradiction of this work is how a wide and open space is developed using dense, massive tones. Another is the artificial horizontal arrangement of some of the “sparks”; clearly a town is nearby on the other side of the water body. Combine this with color temperature and value contrast and a unique sense of plastic depth is created.

Though figurative subjects range from indistinct to ghost-like, the reasonable realism and textural layering leave an impression of the smell of burning powder and chilled night air. While the energy of motion is unmistakable, the canvas captures falling sparks in a frozen moment in time. Whistler masterfully binds through a consistent texturing, diluted chroma and blended definition of forms. Some experts believe this masterpiece is the most appropriate single work to point to for initiating the formal series of movements towards modern abstraction because of its non-literal subject matter presented in a literal manner. What is left over is usually confusion, and a natural, physical reaction to what is depicted.