Article
Designs for a Fan, James McNeill Whistler
Although Whistler's printmaking talents are well-represented with over fifty etchings and lithographs, Designs for a Fan is the first example of his draftsmanship to enter the collection. The double-sided sheet is one of over 200 such works exe cuted in chalk or charcoal with colored pastel on the characteristic rough brown wrapping paper that Whistler liked for its grainy fibrous texture. It has been dated to the early 1870s, when Whistler produced his most renowned work, Arrangement in Grey and Black : Portrait of the Painter's Mother (Musee d'Orsay, Paris).
In the museum's pastel, Whistler's obsession with detail in the service of an elegant and delicate aesthetic is conveyed perfectly in the graceful and fashionable female figures and the three trademark butterfly signatures, designed to fit the shape of the open fan. On the verso, several rough drawings of a man and woman document Whistler as a compulsive sketcher, making this sheet a remarkable compendium of Whistler's wide-ranging interests-- fashion design, Japanese art, monograms, and portraits-- while also conveying the essential characteristics of his highly innovative and influential style, which became known as "Aestheticism."
In the museum's pastel, Whistler's obsession with detail in the service of an elegant and delicate aesthetic is conveyed perfectly in the graceful and fashionable female figures and the three trademark butterfly signatures, designed to fit the shape of the open fan. On the verso, several rough drawings of a man and woman document Whistler as a compulsive sketcher, making this sheet a remarkable compendium of Whistler's wide-ranging interests-- fashion design, Japanese art, monograms, and portraits-- while also conveying the essential characteristics of his highly innovative and influential style, which became known as "Aestheticism."
