Titles

One title, with varying punctuation, has been suggested:

• 'A Portrait (Maud)' (1908, Pennell). 1
• 'A Portrait: Maud' (1980, YMSM). 2

'A Portrait: Maud' is the preferred title.

Description

A Portrait: Maud, photograph, Pennell Collection, Library of Congress

A full-length portrait of a woman in vertical format. She is wearing a black tippet around her neck, the ends falling over her bust, a simple close fitting dress with long skirt, and a black hat with a broad round brim. Her head is slightly tilted to left (her right). 3

A Portrait: Maud, photograph, Pennell Collection, Library of Congress

Harmony in Red and Black, photograph, Lucas Collection, Baltimore

The pose, with tilted head, and her dress and large hat, is similar to Harmony in Black and Red [YMSM 236].

The photograph gives the proportions for A Portrait: Maud [YMSM 186]. Assuming it to be life-size, these proportions correspond to a canvas size of approximately 75 x 37 (191 x 94).

Sitter

Whistler's mistress and chief model from the mid-1870s to mid-1880s, Maud Franklin (1857-1939)