Reading by Lamplight |  Freer Gallery of Art (1905.114) | |
| Number: | 37 | |
| Date: | 1859 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 161 x 120 mm | |
| Signed: | 'J. Whistler' at lower right | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 3 | |
| Known impressions: | 40 | |
| Catalogues: | K.32; M.30; T.24; W.25 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (40) | ||
STATE
Three states are known.
State 1
Signed 'J. Whistler' ('l' crossed as well as 't') at lower right.
The composition is complete. The face is delicately shaded and the nose is straight. The shadows of the head and book are sharply defined. The cup and saucer are shaded. There is a noticeable pattern on the bowl.
The impression reproduced is slightly foxed.
State 2
Fine horizontal lines and curving horizontals are added to the shadow above the figure; in the light area behind the figure, most of the dado - particularly at right - and shading has been removed and replaced by fine horizontals; shading on the lighter patch behind the seat of the chair is augmented with light horizontal drypoint lines; there is a slight right-left (/) diagonal scratch in the foreground below the saucer.
State 3
Drypoint alterations include redrawing the face and hair, making the nose retroussé and the mouth slightly smiling; extending the dark trim on the white sleeve; long diagonal lines and cross-hatching added in the shaded background; erasing the shading on the cup and saucer and reducing the pattern on the bowl; the shading to left of the chair was removed and redrawn, with the patch behind the seat of the chair again left light; the shading on the table has been removed and redrawn more lightly, with lines drawn both in drypoint and with a roulette; there is some foul biting behind the chair.
As the drypoint faded it was sometimes reinforced by rich inking (
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