Then the “Nocturnes,” in which detail and composition were refined away, and little remained but color-effects so exquisite that they seemed, and still seem, beyond the power of brush, and more like some thin glazes and enamels than paintings on canvas. As music in color the “Nocturnes” and certain of the “Harmonies” and “Symphonies,” wherein detail is as nothing and the color everything, are Whistler’s most exquisite--the word is used advisedly--achievements. Others will equal his portraits before they equal his “Nocturnes.” As a still further step towards pure color composition he had in mind for years a series of pictures, pure creations of fancy, somewhat suggestive of the Japanese group, but less realistic--just color-music. Happily, the sketches are in existence, and afford some indication of the color-dreams that floated through the great painter’s imagination. They show how musical color is when freed from entangling associations and used broadly and decoratively. * * * * * We have, then, the following phases, rather than “periods,” in his mastery of color: 1. That wherein composition and detail predominate, though color is the motive. 2. That wherein composition and detail are still conspicuous, but are subordinate to the color scheme. 3. That wherein composition and detail are practically lost in the effort to produce subtle color harmonies. 4. That wherein the sole object is color-music, quite regardless of other considerations. This progress from the, so to speak, tentative use of color in connection with more or less conventional composition to the triumph of color and suppression of composition is abundantly illustrated in his works. It would not be difficult to arrange an exhibition of four groups of about three canvases each, which would illustrate each phase. Such an exhibition would do more to enlighten the public regarding his work than any number of exhibitions of a large number of pictures gathered and grouped in the usual way. * * * * * Regarding the use of flat tones he is reported to have once said: “House-painters have the right idea about painting, God bless them.” How far removed from Ruskin, who said: “Hence, wherever in a painting we have unvaried color extended even over a small space, there is falsehood. Nothing can be natural which is monotonous; nothing true which only tells one story.” To Ruskin nature was all in all; to Whistler color was of first consideration. The one looked at color to find natural effects; the other looked at nature to find color-effects. Whistler chose intuitively those scenes and those hours of the day when he would be least hampered by rigid requirements of line and form. He frequently painted the sea under strong light; but under any light water presents itself in broken lines and large masses.