The Boy / James McNeill Whistler

About this Item

Accession Number: 1954/1.358
Title: The Boy
Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Artist Nationality: American
Artist Life Dates: 1834-1903
Medium and Support: drypoint, printed in black ink on laid paper
Object Creation Date: 1875-1876
Credit Line: Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker
Inscription: Signed on the plate, to left of figure: butterfly Watermark: (crown flanked by lions)
Dimensions: 33.2 cm x 21.7 cm (13 1/16 in. x 8 9/16 in.)
Century: 19th century
Physical Description: A boy with long hair sits on a low ledge or rail, facing to the left but looking at the viewer. The figure is lit from the left and behind the figure to the right is deep shadow.
Subject Matter: Whistler executed a number of drypoint portraits during the early and mid-1870s. Because of the amount of plate tone to the right of the image, it is likely that this impression was pulled after Whistler's return from Venice. The sitter is Charles James Whistler Hanson (1870-1935), Whistler's illegitimate son with Louisa Fanny Hanson, believed to be a parlourmaid.
Primary Keywords: boy; figures; seated
Secondary Keywords: child; people and occupations
Rights: If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Collection: University of Michigan Museum of Art
Image Size: 927 x 1411
File Size: 104 KB
Record: 1954/1.358
Link to this Item: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1954-sl-1.358/1954_1.358.jpg

Manifest: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1954-SL-1.358:1954_1.358.JPG

View the Help Guide for more information.

Full citation: "The Boy; James McNeill Whistler." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1954-sl-1.358/1954_1.358.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024.