En Plein Soleil, One of the 'Twelve Etchings from Nature,' or the 'French Set' / James McNeill Whistler

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Record Details

Accession Number
1954/1.322
Title
En Plein Soleil, One of the 'Twelve Etchings from Nature,' or the 'French Set'
Artist Nationality
American
Artist Life Dates
1834-1903
Object Creation Date
1858
Inscription
On the plate, l.l.: Whistler On the plate, l.r.: Imp. Delatre. Rue St. Jacques. 171. Collection (no mark): This set is from the collection of the late Sir F. Seymour Haden's brother.
Dimensions
24.8 cm x 32.4 cm (9 3/4 in. x 12 3/4 in.)
Century
19th century
Physical Description
Seen slightly from below, a woman is seated in a landscape on a hillock. She is holding a dark, fringed parasol and has a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her face is partly shaded by the parasol; beside her to the left is a pot or container of some kind. Behind her to the right is a lone poplar tree and behind her to the left are some low buildings and indication of a stand of trees. The foreground is uneven, with tufts of grass standing up between the figure and the viewer.
Subject Matter
Drawn directly outside, this work shows Whistler's shared interest in "plein air" sketching and painting. Although Whistler abandoned such a straightforward interpretation of nature, which he believed did not involve creativity, he never lost the ability to quickly seize the essentials of form and light of objects he observed. Later, his work sought to distill everyday scenes around him and transform them into a poetic beauty that he found in such subjects.
Rights
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Technical Details

Image Size
1233 x 923
File Size
161 KB
Record
1954/1.322
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1954-sl-1.322/1954_1.322.jpg

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Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1954-SL-1.322:1954_1.322.JPG

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"En Plein Soleil, One of the 'Twelve Etchings from Nature,' or the 'French Set'; James McNeill Whistler." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1954-sl-1.322/1954_1.322.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.
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