The Draped Figure Seated
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Description
The Draped Figure, Seated
1893
Transfer lithograph with stumping
Only state (Way 46; Chicago 72)
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.441
Whistler, who had executed a number of works of draped female figures in the 1860s based on ancient Greek terracotta Tanagra figurines, returned to the theme of the draped figure in the 1890s while living in Paris. When he was approached by the French publisher André Marty for the contribution of a lithograph to Album IV of L’Estampe originale, which was to include works by Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947) and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), Whistler considered a number of works, including Nude Model, Reclining and The Steps, Luxembourg, before settling on The Draped Figure, Seated. Although drawn in Paris, Whistler had the work printed in London by T. R. Way on heavy Japanese vellum paper sent to him for that purpose. In addition to the one hundred impressions in the published edition, there were about forty-four additional impressions pulled either before the edition or afterwards, in neither case carrying the letter imprint of the Way firm that appears in the published impressions.
Whistler himself was very pleased with this effort, which was the first time he used stump in a figural work. As he wrote to Way: “Do you see I am getting to use the stump just like a brush—and the work is beginning to have the mystery in execution of a painting.”
Subject Matter:
Draped figures were important to Whistler's work, reflecting his interest in Asian drapery as well as Greek 'tanagra' terracotta figurines that had become popular in Victorian England.
Whistler was asked by André Marty to submit a lithograph to Marty's publication, "L'Estampe Oiginale"; this image was the one that Whistler selected to be included in that French publication. As Whistler wrote to his printer Thomas Way, "The little sitting figure in drapery I am immensely pleased with...The work is beginning to have the mystery in execution of a painting."
Physical Description:
A woman draped in diaphanous drapery sits on a couch facing the viewer. The arm of the couch is visible at the left of the image and the woman glances down towards her knees. To the right is a flower-like form that is the artist's "butterfly" signature.
Usage Rights:
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