Pierrot, Portrait of the Lady A. C.
1888
Medium
Drypoint in black on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image: 7.5 × 8 cm (3 × 3 3/16 in.); Plate: 11.8 × 9.4 cm (4 11/16 × 3 3/4 in.); Sheet, with signature tab: 12.2 × 9.5 cm (4 13/16 × 3 3/4 in.)
Classification
drypoint
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
210910
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Around 1882 the society figure Lady Archibald Campbell commissioned Whistler to paint her portrait, and in 1884 he made an oil sketch of her performing outdoors in the role of Orlando in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Several years later, Roussel portrayed her in costume for her role in Banville’s Le baiser. Unlike The Pastoral Play, which he sketched during the performance, this print, another print and a related pastel must have been created during one or more formal sittings.
About the Artist
Theodore Roussel · 1847–1926
Theodore Casimir Roussel was born on 23 March 1847 in Lorient, Brittany, France, into a naval family. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War, he began painting in 1872 as an entirely self-taught artist, initially rendering scenes of daily life in the meticulous style of the Old Masters. In 1878, he settled permanently in London, where he immersed himself in the vibrant British art scene. There, ...