The First Whisper of Love
John Douglas Miller
c. 1889
Medium
Watercolor on ivory wove paper
Dimensions
57.2 × 39.9 cm (22 9/16 × 15 3/4 in.)
Classification
paper
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
215319
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
John Douglas Miller was a skilled mezzotint engraver who reproduced Renaissance-era and contemporary works with a painterly touch. This rare, pristine intermediary model drawing was made by Miller after William Bouguereau’s small-scale studio version of his painting The First Whisper of Love. Artists and printmakers relied heavily on these drawings during the process of designing prints and often destroyed them afterward.