If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
The single figure of a beggar dominates the composition. Dressed in rags and leaning on a staff, the figure faces the viewer and is shown walking with only slight indication of setting, principally the man's shadows.
Two punctures approximately 4cm apart at the upper center. Paper size: h 21 2/5cm x w 15 1/10cm. Plate size: lh 13 7/10cm & rh 13 2/5cm x tw 8 3/5cm & bw 8 7/10cm.
Subject Matter
Jacques Callot was an innovative and highly accomplished printmaker. Callot's style is both dramatic and elegant; here we see the monumental treatment of a beggar observed and drawn with great sensitivity.
Label Copy
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Jacques Callot
France, 1592–1635
Man, from Les Gueux
1622–28
Etching
Gift of Ruth W. and Clarence J. Boldt, Jr., 2008/2.383.2
These three etchings are from Jacque Callot’s Les Gueux or The Beggars, which consists of twenty-five prints likely produced during the artist’s stay in Italy. Callot’s compassionate representations of the figures reveal his talent for incisive observation and intense interest in surface textures and details, showcased by his meticulous engraving technique. The lack of background details gives the figures an imposing monumentality and emphasizes the detailed rendering of their features and accoutrements. Callot was one of the best known and most accomplished printmakers of the period and his prints were popular and frequently copied.
Aside from the frontispiece, Two Pilgrims is the only print from the series that depicts multiple figures. Their ragged layered clothes, large hats, walking sticks, and distinctive badges suggest that they are either embarking on or returning from a pilgrimage, as does the church visible in the distance.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
This print depicts an ornamental design. The central axis of the design is composed of a fanciful stand with a nude winged boy holding a trident, seen from the back, seated on the top. A pair of sirens holding small banners flank the base, and a pair of hybrid sphinx-like creatures perch near the top. The letter "L" appears in the center of the stand and the date "1528" is inscribed in the base.
Subject Matter
This fanciful ornamental design was created by Lucas van Leyden, who prominently included his initial on the stand in the center of the print. The design combines mythological and grotesque figures in inventive ways that would have testified to the artist's skill. Such designs were used by other artists and craftsmen for the decoration of a wide range of objects, ranging from expensive metalwork to title-pages of books.
Label Copy
Gallery Rotation Spring/Summer 2012
Lucas van Leyden
Netherlands, 1494–1533
Panel of Ornament with Two Sirens
1528
Engraving
Museum purchase, 1960/2.134
The fanciful images known as grotesques were inspired by the discovery of the Domus Aurea or Golden Palace of the Roman emperor Nero and by Raphael’s interiors based on antique painting, but they were also commonly found in decorative arts such as metalwork and ceramics. This engraving of a panel with two sirens (mythological female creatures who lured sailors to their death with their song) regarding themselves in mirrors (below) surmounted by two hybrid-female figures may have been a design for work in another medium. Grotesques are usually organized, as here, along a central vertical axis.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Bottom edge of the paper folded under approximately 4cm. Plate size: h 31 2/5cm x tw 24cm & bw 23 4/5cm. Image size: h 28 1/2cm x tw 20 3/5cm & bw 20 1/2cm.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Born July 10, 1834 in Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of George Washington Whistler, a draftsman and civil engineer. In 1842 the senior Whistler was employed by the Russian government to help build a railroad between St. Petersburg and Moscow. James Whistler thus spent seven years of his youth in Russia (1842-49). In 1851 he entered West Point Academy but was discharged in 1854, for deficiency in chemistry. He worked as a draftsman from 1854 to 1855 in the U. S. Coast Survey, Washington, D.C., where he also learned to etch. In 1855 he left the United States for Paris and, after five years in France, settled in London. He never returned to the United States. He enjoyed great success in his life, as a painter and printmaker, but also struggled for acceptance and endured times of financial hardship.
Whistler studied at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Russia and at West Point Academy, but probably received his earliest artistic training from his father. In 1856 he entered the studio of Marc-Gabriel Charles Gleyre in Paris and became acquainted with Henri Martin, Henri Oulevey, George du Maurier, E. G. Poynter and L. M. Lamont. In 1858 Whistler met Fantin-Latour at the Louvre. Fantin-Latour took him to the Cafe Molière, where he met Legros, Carolus-Duran and Astruc and to the Brasserie Andler, the meeting place of Courbet and his followers. Fantin, Whistler, and Legros formed their own society, the Société des Trois in the same year. Later, in 1865, Albert Moore replaced Legros as the third member of the Société.
Whistler submitted the painting, At the Piano, to the Salon in 1859. Rejected by the Salon, the painting was exhibited in Francois Bonvin's studio. This was also the first painting by Whistler exhibited in Britain, at the Royal Academy, in 1860. Among Whistler's principal patrons early in his career include F. R. Leyland and W. C. Alexander and among major works he produced at this time are portraits of family members of these two men.
In England, Whistler became acquainted with the pre-Raphaelite circle of artists. He began collecting Japanese art and curios in the early 1860s and also is known to have visited the Salon des Refusés in Paris when many of the Impressionist painters were exhibiting there. Whistler's many connections with contemporary artists and wide interests make him an artist difficult to pigeonhole.
Two events in Whistler's life perhaps shed some light on his character: he sued John Ruskin for libel in 1877 (the fees incurred during the case forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1879) and in 1890 he published a book "The Gentle Art of Making Enemies."
Whistler married Beatrix Godwin, widow of E. W. Godwin, in 1888. She preceded him in death in 1896. Whistler died in London on July 17, 1903.
One-man exhibitions: 1874 London, Flemish Gallery; 1904 Memorial exhibition, Boston; 1905 Memorial exhibition, London and Paris
Memberships:
Elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, 1884; president, 1886-1888
First president of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers, 1898-1903
Officer of Legion of Honor, France
Member of Société Nationale des Artistes Françaises
Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
Chevalier of the Order of St. Michael of Bavaria
Honorary member of Royal Academies of Bavaria, Dresden, and of St. Luke in Rome
Sources: Groce, G. C. and D. H. Wallace, eds. "The New York Historical Society's Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957; MacDonald, M. F. "James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours." New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995; McNamara, C. and J. Siewert, "Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision." London: Thames and Hudson, 1994; Opitz, Glenn B., ed. "Mantle Fielding's Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers," 2nd ed. Poughkeepsie: Apollo, 1986; Spencer, R. "Whistler: The Masterworks." London: Studio Editions, 1990.
54.5 cm x 36.2 cm x 2.4 cm (21 7/16 in. x 14 1/4 in. x 15/16 in.)
Physical Description
A group of figures are seated at the lower right. Beyond is an open street or piazza with a flagpole in the middle and in the far distance are the rigging and masts of ships.
Paper trimmed at plate line; except small tab at lower left with inscription. Paper size: lh 34cm & rh 33 4/5cm x tw 16cm & bw 16 3/10cm.
Subject Matter
Whistler often portrayed areas that were disappearing in the urban settings; that is the case with this area near Santa Marta in Venice. Shortly after Whistler returned to London from Italy, this district was demolished to allow construction of a cotton factory. The vertical format and the way that the mast is used to divide the composition recall The Tall Bridge and are evidence of the influence of Japanese art on Whistler.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A man is seen from the back, dressed n rags and leaning on a staff. He has a hat over cloth that is wrapped around his head. The single figure dominates the composition.
Paper size: h 21 7/10cm x w 15cm. Plate sizeL h 13 4/5cm x w 8 4/5cm.
Subject Matter
Jacques Callot was an innovative and highly accomplished printmaker. Callot's style is both dramatic and elegant; here we see the monumental treatment of a beggar observed and drawn with great sensitivity.
Label Copy
Gallery Rotation Winter 2013
Jacques Callot
France, 1592–1635
Man with Back Turned,
from Les Gueux
1622–28
Etching
Gift of Ruth W. and Clarence J. Boldt, Jr., 2008/2.383.4
These three etchings are from Jacque Callot’s Les Gueux or The Beggars, which consists of twenty-five prints likely produced during the artist’s stay in Italy. Callot’s compassionate representations of the figures reveal his talent for incisive observation and intense interest in surface textures and details, showcased by his meticulous engraving technique. The lack of background details gives the figures an imposing monumentality and emphasizes the detailed rendering of their features and accoutrements. Callot was one of the best known and most accomplished printmakers of the period and his prints were popular and frequently copied.
Aside from the frontispiece, Two Pilgrims is the only print from the series that depicts multiple figures. Their ragged layered clothes, large hats, walking sticks, and distinctive badges suggest that they are either embarking on or returning from a pilgrimage, as does the church visible in the distance.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
A shoulder-length portrait of a man occupies the bottom half of the image. The upper portion of the image is untouched. The man's head is silhouetted against a very dark background created by dense marks and hatching that prints very dark. The man looks away from the viewer to the left; behind his head is a partially drawn crow or raven. The man has short hair, moustache and beard.
Subject Matter
Mallarmé was a friend to many of the Impressionist painters in the late 1800s, including Whistler, Redon, Manet, Degas, Monet, and Renoir. For both Gauguin and Mallarmé the role of imagination was paramount, and Gauguin’s image of the poet contrasts sharply with that of Whistler’s. Just as with Whistler’s portrait, Gauguin’s also shows the figure emerging from a shaded background although the figure’s placement within the image is quite different. Gauguin brings Mallarmé closer to the viewer than Whistler’s more psychologically distant rendering. Mallarmé translated Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, The Raven, into French and a raven occupies the space just behind the French poet’s head.
This is Gauguin’s only attempt at etching, although he worked extensively in woodcut, and was executed shortly before he left for Polynesia. Very few impressions were taken of this image during Gauguin’s lifetime; this impression, although taken posthumously, is among the limited number taken from the plate.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
Trimmed to plate mark. Paper size: lh 12 1/10cm & rh 12 3/10cm x tw 10 3/5cm & bw 11cm.
Label Copy
Rembrandt van Rijn
The Netherlands, 1606–1669
Christ and the Woman of Samaria Among Ruins
1634
Etching
Gift of Ruth W. and Clarence J. Boldt, Jr., 2008/2.408
Self-Portrait with Saskia
1636
Etching
Gift of Ruth W. and Clarence J. Boldt, Jr., 2008/2.406
Whistler greatly admired the work of Rembrandt and his achievements as a print-maker. Rembrandt was particularly known for creating dramatic contrasts of light and dark, referred to as chiaroscuro (from the Italian for chiaro—light, and scuro—dark); such tonal effects were extremely difficult to attain in the fundamentally linear medium of printmaking. In Christ and the Woman of Samaria Among Ruins, these oppositions of dark and light not only suggest the effects of natural light, but also heighten the drama of the scene.
In Self-Portrait with Saskia, the viewer confronts the artist himself, depicted as a young man with his bride, Saskia. Throughout his career, Rembrandt repeatedly painted, sketched, and etched images of his own face in addition to creating rich and penetrating portraits of others. In his self-portraits, the artist frequently assumed different guises and costumes, sensitively exploring his own personality and temperament at different ages. A recurring element was a broad brimmed hat; here it casts his eyes into shadow, heightening the psychological complexity of this self-portrait. It would have been clear to anyone familiar with Rembrandt’s work that in Whistler’s early self-portrait he is consciously “tipping his hat” to, and blatantly emulating, this revered old master.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
31.5 cm x 35.5 cm x 1 cm (12 3/8 in. x 14 in. x 3/8 in.)
Physical Description
Colors: pink, orange, blue, red, green, yellow. Small tear at plate line on upper left. Upper right corner previously folded under. Rip on upper right edge of paper, with corresponding tear on left edge. Paper size: lh 55 2/5cm & rh 55 3/5cm x w 75 4/5cm. Plate size: lh 46 1/2cm & rh 46 3/5cm x tw 57 4/5cm & bw 58cm. Image size: lh 44 1/5cm & rh 45 4/5cm x tw 57cm & bw 56 4/5cm.
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please fax a request to the attention of Orian Neumann, Assistant Registrar, at 734-474-7643. For other queries, email orian@umich.edu.edu.
