The Draped Figure, Back View
Medium
lithograph in black on laid paper
Dimensions
image: 20.6 × 15 cm (8 1/8 × 5 7/8 in.) sheet: 33.1 × 21.3 cm (13 1/16 × 8 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.8727
Art Historical Context
James McNeill Whistler’s *The Draped Figure, View* (1893) is a striking lithograph in black on laid paper, capturing the contours of a draped figure seen from behind. Measuring just 20.6 × 15 cm for the image, this intimate print exemplifies Whistler’s late-career mastery of lithography, a medium he championed to achieve painterly effects akin to renowned oil paintings. Printed on textured laid paper, it highlights the artist’s precise control over tone and line, creating a sense of ethereal harmony through soft shadows and fluid drapery folds. Whistler, an American expatriate in London and a...
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...