Titles

• 'Study for the Head of Carlyle' (1980, YMSM). 1
• 'Thomas Carlyle (Primary Title) Study for "Arrangement in Frey & Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle", 1872-73 (Primary Title)' (2018, Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts). 2

'Study for the Head of Carlyle' is the preferred title.

Description

Study for the Head of Carlyle, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

This is a study for Whistler's portrait of Thomas Carlyle (Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle [YMSM 137]), showing almost exactly the same pose of the head and upper body.

Sitter

J. M. Cameron, Thomas Carlyle, 1867, albumen print, National Galleries of Scotland

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), historian and philosopher. Among the many representations of Carlyle is a dramatic print by Julia Margaret Cameron, dated 1867, that shows him in profile (National Galleries of Scotland PGP 373.1).