UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

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La Mère Gérard

Impression: Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art
(1890.10)
Number: 24
Date: 1858
Medium: etching
Size: 129 x 90 mm
Signed: 'Whistler - ' at lower left (2-final)
Inscribed: 'Imp. Delatre. Rue St. Jacques. 171.' at lower centre (4)
Set/Publication: 'French Set', 1858
No. of States: 4
Known impressions: 53
Catalogues: K.11; M.13; T.6; W.9
Impressions taken from this plate  (53)

TECHNIQUE

Whistler began this plate with the figure and then built up and refined the shading around her, reducing lines as well as adding them. This is evident in many impressions of the third and fourth states, where scraping marks are visible among the shading to left and right of the figure, and burnished areas read as lighter streaks, particularly on the left.
Thomas described La Mère Gérard as 'a most delicious specimen of etching'. 11

11: Thomas 1874 (cat. no. 6).

PRINTING

Over fifty impressions are recorded. The first cleanly printed early proofs, bright and sharp in line, are in black ink on off-white wove card, both for the first (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110103, Graphic with a link to impression #K0110102) and second (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110202) state. These are very rare, as is the third state, where Whistler apparently tried out a dark brown ink (see Graphic with a link to impression #K0110303, Graphic with a link to impression #K0110304) as well as black ink (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110302).
Over thirty impressions of the published fourth state are known, the majority printed in black ink on thin Japanese paper in shades from off-white (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110402), ivory (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110404, Graphic with a link to impression #K0110424), cream (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110z05) to tan (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110405), in all cases laid down on wove paper. A minority are printed directly on wove paper (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110416) and rather more on laid paper (for example, Graphic with a link to impression #K0110406, Graphic with a link to impression #K0110429), one with a 'DURHAM & CO' watermark (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110418), and a Strasbourg Lily (Graphic with a link to impression #K0110409).