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

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M.0521
r.: The Blue Girl; v.: Curtain

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1873/1876
Collection: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Accession Number: F1905.126a-c
Medium: r: chalk and pastel; v: chalk
Support: brown wove paper
Size: 9 11/16 x 5 5/8" (246 x 143 mm)
Signature: none
Inscription: none

r.: The Blue Girl; v.: Curtain

Composition

r.: The Blue Girl, Freer Gallery of Art
r.: The Blue Girl, Freer Gallery of Art

This is a detailed study for the The Blue Girl: Portrait of Miss Elinor Leyland [YMSM 111]. The canvas was destroyed by the artist, leaving only vases of flowers at each side, which do not appear in the drawing.

Technique

r.: The Blue Girl, Freer Gallery of Art
r.: The Blue Girl, Freer Gallery of Art

The figure may have been retouched and signed 1890/1893.

v.: Curtain, Freer Gallery of Art
v.: Curtain, Freer Gallery of Art

The drawing of the curtain on the verso does not seem to be a design but a sketch of an actual curtain.

Last updated: 15th February 2021 by Margaret