James McNeill Whistler

James McNeill Whistler|Percy Thomas|James McNeill Whistler

1874 · Etching; early state (before addition of artist's signature lower left center) · Drawings and Prints

Percy Thomas's print is based on a Whistler self-portrait, "Arrangement in Grey: Portrait of the Painter," ca. 1872 (Detroit Institute of Arts). The print was created as a frontispiece for the first catalogue of Whister's etchings, published in London in 1874 by the etcher's brother, Ralph Thomas. Wearing a smock and wide brimmed hat, the subject holds two brushes and is identified by his butterfly mark perched on the edge of the dado behind his shoulder. An inscription at upper right, from Whistler to Samuel P. Avery, Sr., relates this impression to the American edition of the catalogue, that Avery published in New York.

Artist

James McNeill Whistler|Percy Thomas|James McNeill Whistler

Date

1874

Medium

Etching; early state (before addition of artist's signature lower left center)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Amy and Emma Welcher and Alice Welcher Erickson, 1967