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Sitter
Green and Blue: The Dancer, Art Institute of Chicago
The model has not been identified.
Comments
Stephanie Strother suggests that Green and Blue: The Dancer and The Little Blue Cap [M.1393] are
'evocative of the ancient Greek Tanagra figurines that were enthusiastically collected in Europe ... Whistler greatly admired Tanagras, and he kept an album of photographs of those owned by his friend Alexander Ionides. He would have also been aware of examples of dancing terra-cotta figures, such as the well-known Danseuse Titeux in the Louvre’s collection.' 1
Greek terracotta figure, photograph, The Hunterian
A photograph from the Ionides Album, from Whistler's collection, is reproduced above.
Notes:
1: Stephanie L. Strother, 'Cats. 31-32 Green and Blue: The Dancer and The Little Blue Cap: Curatorial Entry,' in Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 31); Danseuse Titeux repr. fig. 31-32.2.
Last updated: 11th December 2020 by Margaret
