James McNeill Whistler (Lowell, Massachusetts, 1834 - 1903, London, England)
A Young Lady Seated, Reading, 1878
Lithotint on chine collé , 25.4 x 24 cm, (10 x 9 7/16 in.,)
The subject of this lithotint is a full-length figure of a young woman with upswept hair, seated with her right leg crossed over her left knee. She holds her book in her hands up close to her face as she reads. She wears a long-sleeved dress that drapes over her legs and reaches to the floor. There are varying tones of black and gray in this portrait. The darker tones outline her neckline, wrists, and the curve of her buttocks--while they also create the drapery effect as it falls over her legs and those tones also suggest shadows behind her to the left. The piece is signed with the artist's signature "butterfly" on the bottom left of the paper.
Short Gallery
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.