Technique

The head was drawn carefully with a combination of repeated outlines, angular lines and zigzag shading, the planes of the face defined with patches of shading. The face was strongly lit from above, and there are dark accents marking the shadows as well as the man's spectacles. Broader, softer, zigzags provide some sense of surrounding space.

Man wearing spectacles, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Although it was suggested that this was a portrait of Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910), possibly touched up by him, it is more likely to have been drawn in America. It may date from Whistler's time at USMA, and have been touched up by a master at West Point, such as Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889).

Conservation History

The edges are irregular; the sheet was stuck onto p. 16 of an album belonging to the family of Thomas de Kay Winans (1820-1878). It is a little browned.