Technique

Either this painting or Dorothy Seton [YMSM 551] may have been the work described by Way and Dennis in 1903:

'In his early portraits he required an enormous number of sittings from his models; yet a short time before his death he painted in two sittings a study of a girl's head, which in mastery of handling is equal to anything he ever produced.' 1

The face and hand of the girl are painted thinly, with almost dry paint, on what appears to be a grey primed canvas. The brushwork is rather tentative, but her skin is solidly modelled and of a rich colour. The bold handling of the black dress, and of the black ribbon in her dark red hair, against an olive green background, confirm that the painting was done quickly. The black outline appears to have been strengthened round her face and hands. It is more precise than is usual in Whistler’s work but accentuates fully the glowing flesh tones and the russet of the apple.

Conservation History

The Pennells thought it was ‘the last important picture he painted ... an extremely fine example of his latest period. He must have worked on it again, however, for at the Paris Memorial Exhibition, the bloom of its first beauty had faded from it.’ 2

Frame

A Grau-style frame, dating from the 1900s. 3