The Fortune Teller-- A Red Note 1886 - 1890

Curator: Whistler's "The Fortune Teller-- A Red Note," which resides here at Harvard, is a study in subtle composition. It's a compact piece, roughly 11 by 7 inches. Editor: It feels unfinished, doesn't it? Almost ghostly. The figure fades into the background. Is she seeing a good future, I wonder, or something more uncertain? Curator: Well, consider how Whistler deliberately used the toned paper as a mid-tone. The figure and the still life emerge from it with just a few strokes of pastel and charcoal. Editor: I see what you mean. It's about suggestion, not declaration. The figure's pose, the objects on the table, they're all just hints of a narrative. Curator: Precisely! The title, "A Red Note," points more towards the aesthetic arrangement than a literal interpretation of fortune-telling. Editor: Maybe the red note is the anticipation itself, the flush of potential. It's a quiet piece, yet it hums with possibility. Curator: I find the economy of line here extraordinary, and this glimpse is perhaps, more about the painter himself. Editor: A thought. A fleeting moment captured with such delicate precision. It is a small masterpiece.