En plein soleil

James McNeill Whistler

1858 · Etching on tan chine on white wove paper (chine collé); third state of three (Glasgow) · Drawings and Prints

Whistler probably captured this image of a grisette, or working girl holding a parasol, in the countryside near Paris (the title translates to "In Full Sun"). Realist and naturalist ideas circulating among artists in France influenced the unidealized approach. One of Whistler's early etchings, it was made in the summer of 1858 before he set out in mid-August to tour the Rhineland. In November, it was included in "Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" ("Twelve Etchings from Nature"), known as the "French Set." This impression belonged to Thomas Winans, a Baltimore friend who financed the artist's move to Paris in 1855; Winans kept the print in an album that his descendants gave to the Museum.

Artist

James McNeill Whistler

Date

1858

Medium

Etching on tan chine on white wove paper (chine collé); third state of three (Glasgow)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Margaret C. Buell, Helen L. King, and Sybil A. Walk, 1970