The Toilet
James McNeill Whistler American
Printer Thomas Way British
Subject Maud Franklin British
Not on view
Whistler's masterful handling of lithographic inks and chalks enabled him to imitate on stone the atmospheric effects of his paintings and watercolors. In his effort to popularize lithography, Whistler produced "The Toilet" for a magazine called "Piccadilly," which ceased publication soon after the print was issued.
Whistler presents his model and mistress Maud Franklin standing in a trailing gown, its ruffles more attentively rendered than her face. Indeed, this image seems to take the woman's turning, dance-like pose as its true subject. As the figure turns towards the right, her dress spreads behind her, lending the scene a sense of movement pivoting around the outstretched fan. The passages resembling watercolor strokes visible at the far left side are characteristic of lithotint, a technique in which the artist brushes the design onto the stone using a liquid form of the greasy lithographic crayon called tusche.
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