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

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M.0993
Sketch of 'Harmony in Crimson and Brown'

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1884
Collection: Colby College Museum of Art
Accession Number: 017.2010
Medium: pen, ink and wash
Support: paper
Size: 6 11/16 x 3 ¾" (170 x 95 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: none

Sketch of 'Harmony in Crimson and Brown'

Composition

Sketch of 'Harmony in Crimson and Brown', Colby College Museum of Art
Sketch of 'Harmony in Crimson and Brown', Colby College Museum of Art
Portrait of Lady Meux in Furs, photograph, GUL Whistler PH4/26
Portrait of Lady Meux in Furs, photograph, GUL Whistler PH4/26
Harmony in Crimson and Brown, Private Collection
Harmony in Crimson and Brown, Private Collection

This is a drawing, possibly done from memory or from a photograph, of the painting Portrait of Lady Meux in Furs [YMSM 230] in its frame. Slightly more detail of the head and hat were noted than in the earlier drawing, Harmony in Crimson and Brown [M.0853].

Technique

Menpes wrote that 'The pen-holder and the finger were freely used as a brush in the execution of the drawing.' 1 Wash was added to back up the extensive pen shading, giving a rich and lustrous effect.

Notes:

1: Menpes 1904 A [more] , repr. f.p. xx.

Last updated: 1st April 2020 by Margaret