The Marble Palace

"Whistler often used the chalk on its side, sometimes with firm pressure, to create passages of strong scumbling. While simple charcoal outlines give structure to the architecture, a lightly scumbled haze embraces the old Marble Palace itself. In alternating passages of clarity through charcoal lines and obscurity through nearly evanescent pastel, Whistler evokes a world of dreams, a time when perception and enigma intermingle."