Technique

Seated figure, Freer Gallery of Art

Nesta Spink suggested that Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) pulled this drawing through a printing press to produce a counter-proof on lithographic transfer paper. 1 The counterproof captured all the details of line in the original. This image was transferred to a lithographic stone and printed. The print was catalogued by Levy as an original lithograph by Whistler, but it is a reproduction. 2 The slightly flattened drawing may then have been touched up and repaired either by Whistler or by Way. It was signed by Whistler around 1890.

It is simply not clear if this was an experiment approved by the artist.