Japanese Woman Painting a Fan (recto); Standing Woman Holding Up Her Dress (verso)

c. 1872

James McNeill Whistler

(American, 1834–1903)

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Culture

America

Medium

black chalk and pastel

Measurements

Sheet: 27.9 x 17.6 cm (11 x 6 15/16 in.); Secondary Support: 38.5 x 28.9 cm (15 3/16 x 11 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Henry A. Everett for the Dorothy Burnham Everett Memorial Collection 1933.222

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Location

Not on view

Description

After being expelled from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Whistler made his way to Europe, where he pursued the life of the artist-bohemian, first in Paris, and then in London. Whistler was a pioneer in appreciating the effects of Japanese prints, and his art is characterized by an Asian subtlety and delicacy. Whistler signed his work with a monogram representing a butterfly, which appears just below the hand of the model in this drawing.