GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This is an engaging example of James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s influential etching practice. Whistler was a central figure in the late 19th-century Etching Revival, in which he and his British and French colleagues used etchings as a form of original artistic expression, rather than to reproduce other artworks. This is an intimate print, both in the subject of a sleeping nude and in style. The printing process removes the finished product from the artist’s hand, but Venus seems as intimate as a drawing.
Drawn from
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2009.
- Rebecca Singerman, DMA unpublished material, 2018.
NOTES
Created 1859
July 2009
Second state
The American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler is generally credited with spurring the Etching Revival, an artistic movement that flourished in Britain and France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The artists of the Etching Revival sought to renew etching as a form of original artistic expression rather than mere reproduction. Their graphic work not only looked back to the open, painterly style of Rembrandt and his generation but demonstrated a modern sensibility in the choice of subject matter.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2009.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1990: Dallas Museum of Art, anonymous gift
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WEB RESOURCES
- University of Glasgow~Learn more about this etching and its subject.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- The sitter for this etching is probably Whistler’s Parisian mistress, “Fumette.” He etched her several times in 1859, but this is the only known nude, a rare subject throughout his career.
- The Dallas Museum of Art has another depiction of Fumette by Whistler in its permanent collection.
TEACHING IDEAS
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Apply to objects where number equals 1990.125
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General Description
This is an engaging example of James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s influential etching practice. Whistler was a central figure in the late 19th-century Etching Revival, in which he and his British and French colleagues used etchings as a form of original artistic expression, rather than to reproduce other artworks. This is an intimate print, both in the subject of a sleeping nude and in style. The printing process removes the finished product from the artist’s hand, but Venus seems as intimate as a drawing.
Drawn from
- Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2009.
- Rebecca Singerman, DMA unpublished material, 2018.
Fun Facts
- The sitter for this etching is probably Whistler’s Parisian mistress, “Fumette.” He etched her several times in 1859, but this is the only known nude, a rare subject throughout his career.
- The Dallas Museum of Art has another depiction of Fumette by Whistler in its permanent collection.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Created 1859
July 2009
Second state
The American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler is generally credited with spurring the Etching Revival, an artistic movement that flourished in Britain and France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The artists of the Etching Revival sought to renew etching as a form of original artistic expression rather than mere reproduction. Their graphic work not only looked back to the open, painterly style of Rembrandt and his generation but demonstrated a modern sensibility in the choice of subject matter.
Excerpt from
Heather MacDonald, DMA label copy, 2009.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1990: Dallas Museum of Art, anonymous gift
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
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Objects
number
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1990.125
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object_notes_1_b-0137.xml.nores