Study of a Girl's Head and Shoulders
James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903)
1896–97
- Medium
- Oil on panel
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- 15.5 × 9.5 cm (6 1/8 × 3 3/4 in.)
- Culture
- United States
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Walter S. Brewster Collection
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
In addition to large-scale portraits, James McNeill Whistler created small-scale likenesses, often on wood panel, as in this painting of a young sitter. A well-known beauty, Olga Caracciolo lived in Dieppe, France, likely where this work was executed, and later married the photographer Adolf de Meyer. Rather than a swift, abbreviated study for a larger composition, Whistler considered a work such as this to be a satisfying aesthetic whole. Indeed, small paintings serve as invitations for an intimate viewing experience and contemplation of the artist’s harmonies of color and form.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
