A founding document of the Aesthetic Movement ("art for art's sake"). Whistler rejected the narrative expectations and moralizing undertones of Victorian portraiture, treating the canvas as a formal study in tone and texture—exploring the subtle variations of white on white. Rejected by both the Royal Academy in London and the Paris Salon, it became a focal point of public debate at the 1863 Salon des Refusés. Whistler later appended the musical term "Symphony" to emphasize that painting, like music, should be judged by visual harmony rather than literary content.