The Long Balcony

1894

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The image depicts a group of people on a balcony. Multiple figures are gathered along the edge of the balcony, most holding or gathered under umbrellas. Additional figures are seen peering out from small windows. The sketch is done with light, quick pencil strokes, expressing movement and casual observation. The background is lightly sketched, focusing attention on the figures with minimal detail given to the architecture, creating a bustling, everyday ambiance.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph in black on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 20.4 × 15.8 cm (8 1/16 × 6 1/4 in.)
    sheet: 33.4 × 23.6 cm (13 1/8 × 9 5/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8709

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Stratis & Tedeschi 1998, no. 82, ii/ii

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. 49.

1998

  • Stratis, Harriet K., and Martha Tedeschi, eds. The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, vol. 1. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 259-261, no. 82, ii/ii.

Wikidata ID

Q65022128

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