The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Standing Woman Holding Up Her Dress (verso)

c. 1872

James McNeill Whistler

(American, 1834–1903)
America
black chalk or crayon
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.)
Gift of Mrs. Henry A. Everett for the Dorothy Burnham Everett Memorial Collection 1933.222.b
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.
  • American Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 12, 1998).
  • {{cite web|title=Standing Woman Holding Up Her Dress (verso)|url=false|author=James McNeill Whistler|year=c. 1872|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1933.222.b