James McNeill Whistler
Medium
Etching; early state (before addition of artist's signature lower left center)
Dimensions
plate: 5 1/8 x 7 3/4 in. (13 x 19.7 cm) sheet: 12 3/16 x 8 1/2 in. (31 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Amy and Emma Welcher and Alice Welcher Erickson, 1967
Accession Number
67.844.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Prints gallery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visitors encounter this intimate etching titled *James McNeill Whistler* (1874), a portrait capturing the renowned artist at work. Created as an early state—before the addition of Whistler's signature in the lower left center—this print measures a modest plate size of 5 1/8 x 7 3/4 inches. The collaboration between James McNeill Whistler and his pupil Percy Thomas highlights Whistler's hands-on approach to printmaking, where Thomas often assisted in pulling impressions. Tags evoke a vivid scene: brushes in hand, portraying Whistler as th...
About the Artist
James McNeill Whistler|Percy Thomas|James McNeill Whistler · 1834–1903
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) was an American-born painter and printmaker who became a leading figure in the Aesthetic Movement and pioneer of Tonalism and Japonisme. He revolutionized art by championing "art for art's sake" and treating paintings as visual equivalents of musical compositions, titling works as "arrangements," "harmonies," and "nocturnes" to emphasize formal qualities o...