Study
Medium
Lithograph in black ink with scraping and roulette work on ivory plate paper
Dimensions
Image: 26.6 × 14.9 cm (10 1/2 × 5 7/8 in.); Sheet: 37 × 23.7 cm (14 5/8 × 9 3/8 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
139391
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
American by birth, Whistler had been living in London for almost two decades when he took up the medium of lithography. Here, in his first lithograph, Whistler returned to the subject of his 1873 etching. He depicted Maud in a similar pose, with her characteristic flounced dress and elaborate hat, but this time exploited the qualities of a different medium. He suggested the figure and shadows behind her in soft, greasy lithographic crayon, achieving a range of tonal effects that were not possibl...
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...