James McNeill Whistler

A dancing woman in a pink robe, seen from the back

Date c.1888 - 1890
Materials Charcoal and gouache on brown paper laid down on card
Dimensions 28.0 cm x 18.2 cm
Marks Signed with a butterfly at the centre right.
Further information GLAHA 46136.
Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours: A Catalogue Raisonne, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1995 (1214).

Note The model is possibly Eva Carrington who posed for a number of Whistler’s dancing girls. However, Whistler was not interested in portraying character here and shows her from behind with her face turned away. He was more interested in the flowing form and transparency of her robes. Look how he used bold strokes of white paint to suggest the lines and folds of her garment and subtler washes to suggest the filmy nature of the material. The lines of the woman’s body are drawn lightly in charcoal. There are traces of what appear to be a standing draped figure underneath. Can you see drapes around the model’s feet? This may be left over from the earlier drawing. The picture is unfinished. Notice how the interior of the room and Whistler’s signature are only lightly drawn in with charcoal, having not yet been filled in with paint.

Related works GLAHA 46173.