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The Boy (Charlie Hanson)

Impression: Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art
(1893.91)
Number: 145
Date: 1875/1876
Medium: drypoint
Size: 226 x 150 mm
Signed: butterfly at left (2-final)
Inscribed: no
Set/Publication: no
No. of States: 8
Known impressions: 12
Catalogues: K.135; M.133; W.109
Impressions taken from this plate  (12)

KEYWORD

boy seated, portrait.

TITLE

There are several minor variations in the title, as follows:


'Charlie' (1877, Whistler). 1
'Boy' (1877, Howell). 2
'The Boy' (1887/1888, Whistler). 3
'The Boy' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 4
'Le petit garçon - (The Boy)' (1905, Paris). 5


The title 'The Boy (Charlie Hanson)' is based on Whistler's titles, plus the identity of the sitter.

1: (19 October [1877}, GUW 12735).

2: C. A. Howell to JW, [6-15 November 1877], GUW 02178.

3: List, [1887/1888], GUW #13233.

4: Wedmore 1886 A (cat. no. 109).

5: Paris Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 337).

DESCRIPTION

A boy with long hair falling upon his shoulders sits sideways, to left, on a ledge or a high bench. His right foot is raised from the floor, on which his left foot rests. His left hand lies over his right knee. The boy is lit from the left and there is shading in the background, particularly at right. There are traces of a head (from an earlier composition) upside down near the bottom of the plate, at the centre.

SITTER

Charles James Whistler Hanson (1870-1935). Whistler drew a pen sketch of his son that is to some extent comparable, Charles Hanson [m0587].