GENERAL DESCRIPTION
James Abbott McNeill Whistler made this etching of his friend, the French sculptor Charles Drouet, in 1859 while he was living in Paris. He used a pointed needle to scratch Drouet’s form into a waxy ground atop a copper plate. The wax protected the plate from an acid, which would cut Whistler’s lines into the copper. He carefully carved the fine details of the sculptors face into the wax, and filled in the rest of his body with sketchy lines.
For centuries, etching had been used largely as a reproductive medium—the fine lines were suited to precisely capturing existing objects. 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. They looked to the painterly style of the etchings of Rembrandt’s generation, imbuing them with modern taste and rendering contemporary subjects.
Adapted from
- William Rudolph, label copy. 2005.
- Rebecca Singerman, DMA unpublished material, 2018.
NOTES
Created 1859
July 2005
Rebecca Singerman worked on this note.
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Artist/designers
Cultures
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Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
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Historical periods
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Charles Drouet
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PROVENANCE
From 1942: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Mrs. A.E. Zonne [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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FUN FACTS
- Despite the fact that this etching received high praise, Whistler canceled the plate. Cancelling a plate usually means the artist makes lines over the image on the copper plate, ruining any subsequent prints made from it. Few impressions of this print exist because it had such a short run.
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Apply to objects where number equals 1942.71
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General Description
James Abbott McNeill Whistler made this etching of his friend, the French sculptor Charles Drouet, in 1859 while he was living in Paris. He used a pointed needle to scratch Drouet’s form into a waxy ground atop a copper plate. The wax protected the plate from an acid, which would cut Whistler’s lines into the copper. He carefully carved the fine details of the sculptors face into the wax, and filled in the rest of his body with sketchy lines.
For centuries, etching had been used largely as a reproductive medium—the fine lines were suited to precisely capturing existing objects. 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. They looked to the painterly style of the etchings of Rembrandt’s generation, imbuing them with modern taste and rendering contemporary subjects.
Adapted from
- William Rudolph, label copy. 2005.
- Rebecca Singerman, DMA unpublished material, 2018.
Fun Facts
- Despite the fact that this etching received high praise, Whistler canceled the plate. Cancelling a plate usually means the artist makes lines over the image on the copper plate, ruining any subsequent prints made from it. Few impressions of this print exist because it had such a short run.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Created 1859
July 2005
Rebecca Singerman worked on this note.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Place of origin: Paris (France): TGN: 7008038
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Charles Drouet
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1942: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Mrs. A.E. Zonne [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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1942.71
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