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

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M.1487
Nude figure standing, holding a veil

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1897
Collection: Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Accession Number: 2006678405
Medium: pencil
Support: cream laid paper
Size: 8 1/16 x 4 15/16" (205 x 125 mm)
Signature: none
Inscription: r.: 'Drawn by Whistler. March 1897' by J. Pennell; v.: '8-89-806.23' in an unknown hand

Nude figure standing, holding a veil

Composition

Nude figure standing, holding a veil, Library of Congress
Nude figure standing, holding a veil, Library of Congress
Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Little Blue Girl, Freer Gallery of Art
Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Little Blue Girl, Freer Gallery of Art
Study of nude figure looking right, Whereabouts unknown
Study of nude figure looking right, Whereabouts unknown

The pose is somewhat similar to Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Little Blue Girl [YMSM 421], which was still in Whistler's studio, and to another drawing Study of nude figure looking right [M.1488].

Technique

The figure was drawn with a sharp pencil, but softly. The scratchy, diagonal shading, the broken lines and multiple outlines give a nervous vitality to the drawing.

Conservation History

It is on shiny notepaper, possibly taken from a notebook. The right edge has been neatly torn rather than cut. Tears along the top edge have been repaired, but there is a brown stain along the lower edge.

Last updated: 5th March 2021 by Margaret