Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011393Japanese Woman Painting a Fan (recto); Standing Woman Holding Up Her Dress (verso)
Also known as: Japanese lady decorating a fan; Woman in Japanese Dress
About the Artwork
After being expelled from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Whistler made his way to Europe, where he pursued the life of the artist-bohemian, first in Paris, and then in London. Whistler was a pioneer in appreciating the effects of Japanese prints, and his art is characterized by an Asian subtlety and delicacy. Whistler signed his work with a monogram representing a butterfly, which appears just below the hand of the model in this drawing.
Inscriptions
signed, center, in black chalk and pastel: [artist's monogram]
Exhibition history
What Was the Armory Show?. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 27-September 15, 1963). America Draws. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1984-March 17, 1985). The View from Afar: Whistler and the Japanese Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 9-October 16, 1988). Directions in Drawing: 1750-1988. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 2-August 4, 1991). Pure Color: Pastels from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 19, 2016-March 19, 2017).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)
- Date
- c. 1872
- Medium
- black chalk and pastel
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 27.9 x 17.6 cm (11 x 6 15/16 in.); Secondary Support: 38.5 x 28.9 cm (15 3/16 x 11 3/8 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. Henry A. Everett for the Dorothy Burnham Everett Memorial Collection
- Accession no.
- 1933.222
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Open-access museum record · AT-00011393
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