The Dancing Girl
Medium
Transfer lithograph in black on tan laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 18.2 × 14.8 cm (7 3/16 × 5 7/8 in.); Sheet: 31.2 × 20.2 cm (12 5/16 × 8 in.)
Classification
transfer lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
139418
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s *The Dancing Girl* (1889) is a delicate transfer lithograph in black ink on tan laid paper, capturing a poised female figure mid-movement. Measuring just 18.2 × 14.8 cm for the image itself, this intimate print exemplifies Whistler’s late-career fascination with printmaking, housed today in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Prints and Drawings Department. Whistler, an American expatriate in London and champion of the Aesthetic movement, prioritized “art for art’s sake,” emphasizing tonal harmony and subtle effects over narrative detail. This work reflects his shift towar...
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...