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

Composition

Study for the Head of Carlyle, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Study for the Head of Carlyle, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle, Glasgow Museums
Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle, Glasgow Museums

It is a study of the head of Thomas Carlyle, similar to his pose in Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle [YMSM 137].

Technique

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

Technically it resembles Whistler's sketch for the head of Cicely Alexander (Study for the Head of Miss Cicely H. Alexander [YMSM 128]) very closely indeed. The two were being painted at the same time. It is painted boldly, with clearly distinct brushstrokes, mostly applied quite thinly, with areas of canvas showing.

Conservation History

Unknown.

Frame

78.8 x 63.8 cm (31 1/16 x 25 2/16").

Last updated: 19th November 2019 by Margaret