Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

 

Sketch Portrait of Walter Sickert

Technique


                    Sketch Portrait of Walter Sickert,  Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane
Sketch Portrait of Walter Sickert, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane

Thinly painted, with broad brushstrokes, the paint barely scrubbed in, and the canvas showing through at times: the free brushstrokes are rather similar to Sickert's work, but the paint is applied less thickly.

MacDonald commented:

'Whistler painted two head-and-shoulder studies of Sickert. With their broad, square brush-strokes, and warm brown tones, they appear more like self-portraits, suggesting the influence of the younger man on the master's work.' 1

Conservation History

Unknown.

Frame

Unknown.

Notes:

1: 'MacDonald, Margaret, 'Whistler como artista, maestro y amigo', in Dempsey, Andrew (ed.), James McNeill Whistler. Walter Richard Sickert, La Caixa, Madrid, 1998, p. 27.

Last updated: 29th October 2020 by Margaret