Technique

Head of a Young Woman, Smithsonian American Art Museum

The fine weave canvas is approximately the size of the French 'toile de 8' (46 x 38cm) and may have been acquired in Paris. The paint is (for Whistler) fairly thick and heavily worked.

The technique is not totally consistent with Whistler's work.

Conservation History

Head of a Young Woman, photograph, 1980

Head of a Young Woman, Smithsonian American Art Museum

It is on canvas mounted on wood.

An earlier photograph shows it as much less cracked and abraded – particularly at upper right – than it appears in the colour photograph: this may have been due to the lighting and/or varnishing or other treatment of the picture.

Smithsonian American Art Museum records state that old varnish was removed, the painting was cleaned, inpainted as required, and varnished by Henri G. Courtais, New York, in 1962-1963. 1

Frame

The painting was reframed and the frame was gilded in 1962.