Reading a Book |  Freer Gallery of Art (1898.343) | |
| Number: | 112 | |
| Date: | 1873/1874 | |
| Medium: | drypoint | |
| Size: | 127 x 77 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Cancelled Plates', 1879 | |
| No. of States: | 2 | |
| Known impressions: | 18 | |
| Catalogues: | K.111; M.110; W.97 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (18) | ||
KEYWORD
model, portrait, reading, woman seated.
TITLE
Possible variations on the title include the following:
Possibly 'Fannie reading' (1877, Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890)). 2
Possibly 'Girl Reading' (1887/1888, Whistler). 3
'Reading a Book' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 4
'Reading a Book' is the generally accepted title.
Possibly 'Fannie reading' (1877, Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890)). 2
Possibly 'Girl Reading' (1887/1888, Whistler). 3
'Reading a Book' (1886, Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921)). 4
'Reading a Book' is the generally accepted title.
2: C. A. Howell to Whistler, [6-15 November 1877], GUW #02178.
3: List, [August 1887/1888], GUW #13233.
4: Wedmore 1886 A[more] (cat. no. 97).
DESCRIPTION
A young woman seated in a chair, with her right leg crossed over her left knee, facing left and holding a book in her left hand. She wears a long sleeved dress with a ruff at the neck, a long straight skirt gathered into folds at the back. Her hair is drawn up into a bun or chignon high on her head. The background is shaded.
SITTER
The model has not been identified. Possible candidates include Maud Franklin (1857- ca 1941), Fanny Leyland (1857-1880) and Alice Fay Greaves (b. 1852). A lithograph of Maud in similar pose is reproduced below.
Reading c017, lithograph, 1879, 1887.
The Hunterian, University of Glasgow (GLAHA 49025).