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

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YMSM 024
At the Piano

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1858-1859
Collection: Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH
Accession Number: 31-1962-7
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 67.0 x 90.5 cm (26 3/8 x 35 5/8")
Signature: 'Whistler' or possibly 'J. Whistler'
Inscription: none

At the Piano

At the Piano dates from 1858-1859. 1 It was started during the Christmas holiday, between 6 November 1858 and 12 January 1859, when Whistler was staying his half-sister, Deborah Delano Haden (1825-1908) , her husband, Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) , and family. 2

At the Piano, Taft Museum of Art
At the Piano, Taft Museum of Art

It was presumably completed by May 1859 when, according to Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), it was submitted to the Paris Salon, rejected, and then exhibited in the studio of François Bonvin (1817-1887). 3

Notes:

1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 24).

2: Passport, GUW #04325.

3: Fantin-Latour quoted by Pennell 1908 [more] , vol. 1, p. 75.

Last updated: 8th June 2021 by Margaret