Model Draping

c. 1889

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The image is a pencil sketch of a nude figure standing in a partially covered pose. The figure is obscured by a sheer drapery that runs from head to toe, suggesting a concealed stance. The facial features are indistinct, with the head turned slightly to one side, and the hair appears to be loosely drawn atop the head. The sketch focuses mainly on the silhouette of the body through the draped fabric, with minimal clothing details. There are no visible jewelry or objects being held in the image. The background is plain, with no additional elements, allowing focus on the pencil strokes and the primary subject within the linear boundary of the sketch.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph in black on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 19.6 × 11.2 cm (7 11/16 × 4 7/16 in.)
    sheet: 33.2 × 20.6 cm (13 1/16 × 8 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8691

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Stratis & Tedeschi 1998, no. 31

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

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. 31.

1998

  • Stratis, Harriet K., and Martha Tedeschi, eds. The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, vol. 1. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 140-141, no. 32.

Wikidata ID

Q65022110

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