Object Image

Whistler depicts the celebrated Irish beauty Joanna Hiffernan—his model and mistress—sunk in an armchair, engulfed by a long skirt and loose hair, her lips parted as if to speak. The delicate paper captures the soft, drypoint lines and conveys a sensual mood. The light sketch of a girl’s head (in the lower left of the sheet) suggests that Whistler first worked on the plate from the opposite direction with another subject in mind. Drypoint lines were scratched directly into the copper to produce this famous image.

Credit: Gift of William Loring Andrews, 1883, transferred from the Library...

1863
Drypoint; fourth state of six (glasgow); printed in black ink on tissue weight ivory japan
19.6 x 12.8cm
83.1.28
Image and text © Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019

Where you'll find this

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Permanent collection