Little Court, Cloth Fair

1887

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The sketch depicts a view from street level of an urban alley or street lined with buildings. The horizon line is obscured by the angular shapes and rooflines of the buildings. The drawing is executed in a loose, gestural style with quick pencil strokes. The color palette is monochromatic with varying shades of gray on white paper. Closest to us, there is a suggestion of cobblestone or paving detail leading the eye into the scene, where a small group of figures is gathered. In the background, there are faint indications of distant architecture blending into the paper.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph in black on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 19.2 × 9.5 cm (7 9/16 × 3 3/4 in.)
    sheet: 28.9 × 22.1 cm (11 3/8 × 8 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8677

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Stratis & Tedeschi 1998, no. 22

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. 18.

1998

  • Stratis, Harriet K., and Martha Tedeschi, eds. The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, vol. 1. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 122-123, no. 22.

Wikidata ID

Q65022096

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