Reading

1879/1887

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The sketch features a person sitting in a slightly hunched position. The outline shows the full body, and the individual seems focused on something in their hands. The face is not detailed, and the hair is styled or pulled back. The person wears a long-sleeved gown or dress that reaches the floor with fabric folds indicated by lines. No jewelry or accessories are visible. The background is plain, emphasizing the individual through shading techniques in the monochromatic drawing.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph in black with chine collé on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 15.5 × 13 cm (6 1/8 × 5 1/8 in.)
    sheet: 46 × 36.3 cm (18 1/8 × 14 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8673

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Stratis & Tedeschi 1998, no. 17, iv/iv

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased April 3, 1930 by Lessing Julius Rosenwald [1891-1971], Philadelphia, (Lugt 1760b); gift to National Gallery of Art, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1931

  • Etchings, Lithographs, Original Drawings, and Autograph Letters by James A. McNeill Whistler, The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1931.

Bibliography

1896

  • Way, Thomas Robert. Mr. Whistler's Lithographs: The Catalogue. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1896; New York: H. Wunderlich & Co., 1905, no. 13.

1998

  • Stratis, Harriet K., and Martha Tedeschi, eds. The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, vol. 1. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 92-96, no. 17, iv/iv.

Wikidata ID

Q65022092

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