The Sunny Smithy

1895

James McNeill Whistler

Associated Names
James McNeill Whistler

Artist, American, 1834 - 1903

The pencil sketch shows three figures in a loose and impressionistic style. The central figure is bent over, with rough facial features and hair, wearing a long garment. Surrounding tools or equipment, possibly an anvil, suggest an industrial setting. Another figure is shown to the left, with fewer details, standing upright with an object near their waist. The background features blurred impressions of surrounding objects, conveying a sense of clutter.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    lithograph in black on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 14.2 × 20.4 cm (5 9/16 × 8 1/16 in.)
    sheet: 19.5 × 25.3 cm (7 11/16 × 9 15/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8743

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Stratis & Tedeschi 1998, no. 121

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. 85.

1998

  • Stratis, Harriet K., and Martha Tedeschi, eds. The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, vol. 1. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998, pp. 368-370, no. 121.

Wikidata ID

Q65022162

You may be interested in

Loading Results