UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

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Draped Model

Impression: Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art
(1892.3)
Number: 109
Date: 1873/1874
Medium: drypoint
Size: 210 x 135 mm
Signed: butterfly at left (4-final)
Inscribed: no
Set/Publication: 'Cancelled Plates', 1879
No. of States: 11
Known impressions: 35
Catalogues: K.100; M.118; T.80; W.87
Impressions taken from this plate  (35)

KEYWORD

model, tanagra, woman standing.

TITLE

Variations on the title are as follows:


'Girl resting' (1870s, Whistler). 1
'Figure of a Woman' (1874, Ralph Thomas, Jr (1840-1876)). 2
'Draped figure' (1877, Whistler). 3
'The draped figure' (1877, Whistler). 4
'The Model Resting' (1899, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 5
'Girl Resting' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 6
'Draped Model' (2010, Whistler Etching Project).


Unfortunately Whistler's original title, on which Mansfield based his title, can be confused with several studies of reclining girls and young women, and with Resting [111].
'Draped Model' is the preferred title, which distinguishes it from other prints.

1: Written on Graphic with a link to impression #K1000203.

2: Thomas 1874 (cat. no. 80).

3: Whistler to M. B. Huish, 10 October 1877, GUW #12734.

4: Whistler to C. A. Howell, 12 October-5 November 1877, GUW #12735.

5: Wedmore 1899 (cat. no. 87).

6: Mansfield 1909 (cat. no. 118).

DESCRIPTION

A young woman with a round face stands facing front, bending slightly to the left. She wears a thin robe, like a toga, and a ribbon round her hair. Her left arm is bent across her body, the hand up to her head. There is a bar or dado and shading in the background.

SITTER

Comparative image
A nude with her right arm resting along a rail [m0414], pastel,
The Hunterian, Glasgow, GLAHA 46042.

The model has not been identified. Comparable studies of a model, nude and clothed, appear in several drawings including the one reproduced above.
Comparative image
Draped figure at a railing [m0412], pastel,
Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC (05.130).

Other studies of a similar model appear in several chalk and pastel studies, including Draped Figure [m0408], Study for 'Morning Glories' [m0409], r.: Morning Glories; v.: Nude study [m0410], Draped figure at a railing [m0412] (reproduced above) and A nude with her right arm resting along a rail [m0414].
Comparative image
r.: Study for 'Morning Glories'; v.: Standing nude [m0411], pastel,
Freer Gallery of Art, Washington DC. (05.150)
However, in some of these pastels, such as r.: Study for 'Morning Glories'; v.: Standing nude [m0411] (reproduced above) the dado looks more like a balcony, with the figure placed outdoors.

DISCUSSION

This is a pose and dress that Whistler returned to frequently. The classical dress and minimalist setting place this among Whistler's most 'Aesthetic' compositions in etching.