The Novel: Girl Reading

c. 1889

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The image displays a sketch of a figure in a standing position. The person's head is slightly turned to the side, and facial features are not clearly defined. They are wearing a head covering tied at the back, with the hair obscured. The figure is covered in a loose garment resembling a robe or toga, with detailed fabric folds suggesting movement. No accessories are visible, and the background is plain, emphasizing the figure.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph in black on laid paper mounted to laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 19.9 × 7.9 cm (7 13/16 × 3 1/8 in.)
    sheet: 28.2 × 21.6 cm (11 1/8 × 8 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8693

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Stratis & Tedeschi 1998, no. 32

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. 33.

1998

  • Stratis, Harriet K., and Martha Tedeschi, eds. The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, vol. 1. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 142-143, no. 32.

Wikidata ID

Q65022112

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