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

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YMSM 136
Study for the Head of Carlyle

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1872/1873
Collection: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
Accession Number: 77.41
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 59.7 x 44.5 cm (23 1/2 x 17 1/2")
Signature: unsigned
Inscription: none

Study for the Head of Carlyle

Titles

  • 'Study for the Head of Carlyle' (1980, YMSM). 1
  • 'Thomas Carlyle (Primary Title) Study for "Arrangement in Frey & Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle", 1872-73 (Primary Title)' (2018, Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts). 2

'Study for the Head of Carlyle' is the preferred title.

Description

Study for the Head of Carlyle, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Study for the Head of Carlyle, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

This is a study for Whistler's portrait of Thomas Carlyle (Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle [YMSM 137]), showing almost exactly the same pose of the head and upper body.

Sitter

J. M. Cameron, Thomas Carlyle, 1867, albumen print, National Galleries of Scotland
J. M. Cameron, Thomas Carlyle, 1867, albumen print, National Galleries of Scotland

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), historian and philosopher. Among the many representations of Carlyle is a dramatic print by Julia Margaret Cameron, dated 1867, that shows him in profile (National Galleries of Scotland PGP 373.1).

Notes:

1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 136).

2: Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts website at https://www.vmfa.museum.

Last updated: 19th November 2019 by Margaret