Night and Day : Chelsea Nocturne : ホイッスラーの絵画と比較して

抄録

Virginia Woolf and Impressionism has been a frequent matter of discussion in her early experimental short stories and in her novel, Jacob's Room. On the other hand, Night and Day, the novel which preceded it, has long been regarded as a work in a traditional style. The critical gap between Night and Day and Jacob's Room, should be bridged. Woolf s experiences in Impressionism go back to her younger days at Hyde Park Gate. Two young Whistlerians, Charles Furse and Arthur Studd, were regular visitors at the house. Her sister Vanessa, too, showed a strong interest in Whistler, and was deeply affected by his style when she was an art student of the Royal Academy. She is the model of Katharine Hilbery, the heroine of Night and Day. The book was dedicated to Vanessa, as well. Whistler was the leader of the English Impressionists and promoted the art-for-art's sake movement. He was the most influential painter in London at that time. Mr. Pauncefore in To the Lighthouse is identical to him. Whistler's concept of "pure painting" was an attempt to approach the state of music, which has much in common with Woolf s steady experiments to fuse these sister arts: music, painting and literature. Some of Whistler's important works, namely, his series of "Nocturnes", influenced Woolf's Night and Day. Its melancholy tone, fin-de-siecle atmosphere, and descriptions correspond to Whistler's techniques and aims.