Object Details
Artist
James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Date
1854–1860
Medium
Pen and brown ink
Dimensions
4 3/16 × 1 3/4 inches (10.6 × 4.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of David Belsky
Object
Number
2011.046.002
These sketches were done early in Whistler’s career, most probably when he was working in Washingt(…)
These sketches were done early in Whistler’s career, most probably when he was working in Washington, DC, for the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. Though quickly drawn, they are lively and distinctive. One of his colleagues, A. Lindenkohl, remembered that “he made landscapes, sketched sometimes from the office windows, and studies of people, always taking the greatest interest in the arrangements and folds of their clothes.” (“The Touch of the Butterfly: Whistler and His Influence,” curated by Nancy E. Green and presented at the Johnson Museum August 4-December 16, 2018)
