Nude Reclining |  Freer Gallery of Art (1903.259) | |
| Number: | 126 | |
| Date: | 1874 | |
| Medium: | drypoint | |
| Size: | 216 x 139 mm | |
| Signed: | no | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 3 | |
| Catalogues: | K.126; M.123; W.113 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (3) | ||
KEYWORD
couch, woman reclining, nude.
TITLE
Whistler's original title is not known. Minor variations in the title are as follows:
'Sketch of a Girl, Nude' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 1
'Sketch of a nude girl' (1890/1892, Beatrice Whistler (1857-1896)). 2
'Nude Girl Reclining' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 3
'Nude Reclining' (2009, Whistler Etching Project)
There are problems in distinguishing between several reclining nudes (i.e. Venus [60] and 'Venus' (Nettie Pettigrew) [363]). In this case there is also a problem with the definition of 'girl' since the model actually appears to be a young woman. 'Nude Reclining' is a preferable title.
'Sketch of a Girl, Nude' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 1
'Sketch of a nude girl' (1890/1892, Beatrice Whistler (1857-1896)). 2
'Nude Girl Reclining' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 3
'Nude Reclining' (2009, Whistler Etching Project)
There are problems in distinguishing between several reclining nudes (i.e. Venus [60] and 'Venus' (Nettie Pettigrew) [363]). In this case there is also a problem with the definition of 'girl' since the model actually appears to be a young woman. 'Nude Reclining' is a preferable title.
1: Wedmore 1886 A (cat. no. 113).
2: List, [1890/1892], GUW #12715.
3: Mansfield 1909 (cat. no. 123).
DESCRIPTION
A nude young woman is lying on a couch, her head raised on the higher end of the couch at right, and her figure extended to the left. Her left hand is raised to her face, and her right hand is lifted behind her, as if holding up drapery.
SITTER
Not identified. The reclining pose is comparable to that of the draped figure in The Model Lying Down [110] (but facing the other way) except that the young woman's arm is raised higher in this drypoint.
DISCUSSION
Lochnan groups it with Draped Model [109] and The Model Lying Down [110] as examples of the combined influence of Tanagra statuettes, Japanese art, and Albert Joseph Moore (1841-1893) on Whistler's work 4 .
4: Lochnan 1984, pp. 153, 155.