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

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M.0538
At the piano

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1875
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number: 1927.5886
Medium: chalk
Support: cream laid paper
Size: 6 7/8 x 4 3/8" (175 x 112 mm)
Signature: none
Inscription: v.: 'This drawing by J. McN. Whistler was done in chalk as a study for the drypoint "The Piano"/ Ernest G. Brown' in E. G. Brown's hand; stamp 'CD' (Charles Deering)

At the piano

Composition

At the piano, Art Institute of Chicago
At the piano, Art Institute of Chicago
At the piano, Private Collection
At the piano, Private Collection
The Piano, drypoint, G.144, National Gallery of Art, DC
The Piano, drypoint, G.144, National Gallery of Art, DC

This is one of two studies (see also At the piano [M.0539], reproduced above) for the drypoint The Piano [144].

Technique

At the piano, Art Institute of Chicago
At the piano, Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago identified the medium as black chalk rather than conté crayon, as suggested in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 538). 1

Notes:

1: Stephanie L. Strother, 'Cat. 17 At the Piano, 1873/75: Curatorial Entry,' in Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 17).

Last updated: 11th December 2020 by Margaret