This particular style of landscape, filled with atmospheric nuance, acted as a preview of what became known as Whistler's signature style, as portrayed in his later Noctures of 1870s, of London enveloped in fog and mist. Consequentially, the perspective McNeal uses places the viewer directly in the painting, almost as if s/he was looking directly at this figure walking along the beach.
Whistler's background largely helps in analyzing this particular painting. Born in Massachusetts, Whistler lived as an expatriate of the United States, spending his early childhood in Russia and London. His father later returned to the U.S., bringing his family with him, and enrolled his son at West Point military academy. After being discharged for failing a Chemistry class at West Point, Whistler learned the art of etching while working for a U.S. cartographer between the years 1854 and 1855. Following that experience, he soon moved to Paris where he exhibited his early paintings and quickly associated with avant-garde artists such as Fantin-Latour, Monet and Manet. In such a fashion, Whistler lived between London and Paris depending on the local artistic climate at the time. Never directly associated with a specific style or school of painting, he used new techniques of composing from memory. He studied the primary forms of a scene and then transposed them to the canvas without every returning to the actual source of inspiration (Centaur Gallery). The technique resulted in a much-simplified composition, as was clearly demonstrated in his "Sea and Rain: Variations in Violet and Green." Whistler accentuated this simplified vision by executing the work with thinned oil paint, giving it a particular texture and continuity that made it richer and more enticing to look at.
I found myself asking many questions as to the nature of the painting. I wanted to know who the faint character in the painting was and why he was alone on this beautiful beach.