Sketch of a Blacksmith
Medium
lithograph in black on wove paper
Dimensions
image: 10.7 × 9.2 cm (4 3/16 × 3 5/8 in.) sheet: 17.2 × 11.7 cm (6 3/4 × 4 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.8791
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s *Sketch of a Blacksmith* (1895) is a captivating lithograph in black on wove paper, measuring a intimate 10.7 × 9.2 cm for the image itself. Created late in the artist’s career, this print exemplifies Whistler’s mastery of lithography—a planographic technique where drawings made with greasy crayon on stone are transferred to paper, allowing for fluid, spontaneous lines and subtle tonal gradations. The modest scale and black-on-white simplicity evoke the raw energy of a blacksmith at work, rendered with Whistler’s signature economy of means. Whistler, an American-born ...
About the Artist
James McNeill Whistler · 1834–1903
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was an American-born painter and printmaker who became a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement and pioneer of Tonalism and Japonisme. He revolutionized art by championing "art for art's sake" and treating paintings as visual equivalents of musical compositions, titling works as "arrangements," "harmonies," and "nocturnes" to emphasize formal qualities o...