Fumette

1858

Not on view

Whistler's mistress Heloise was nicknamed Fumette for her quick temper. Thought to be a gypsy, she worked as a milliner in the Latin Quarter of Paris and lived with the artist for two years. Her bohemian character is suggested here by hair worn loose, in defiance of convention, and crouching pose. Sympathetic to realist and naturalist ideas current in France, the artist avoided idealization or suggestions of universal meaning. Seymour Haden later recorded that Whistler etched the image before leaving for a tour of the Rhineland in mid-August 1868. After his October return, impressions were pulled for publication a month later in "Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" ("Twelve Etchings from Nature," known as the "French Set"). Evidently pleased with the print, the artist sent an impression to the Paris Salon of 1859.

Artwork Details

Title: Fumette
Series/Portfolio: French Set ("Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" 1858)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
Date: 1858
Medium: Etching, printed in black ink on gray chine on off-white wove paper (chine collé); fifth state of five (Glasgow)
Dimensions: Plate: 6 7/16 × 4 5/16 in. (16.3 × 10.9 cm)
Sheet: 17 1/16 x 11 15/16 in. (43.3 x 30.3 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Object Number: 17.3.6
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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The artist's butterfly in an enlarged version with a forked tail

James McNeill Whistler

19th century

Reading, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithograph with scraping; printed in black ink on grayish chine mounted on ivory wove paper; fourth state of four (Chicago) — Reading
James McNeill Whistler
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Windsor (Memorial), James McNeill Whistler American, Drypoint; third state of four (Glasgow); printed in dark brown ink on ivory laid paper — Windsor (Memorial)
James McNeill Whistler
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Early Morning, James McNeill Whistler American, Lithotint with scraping, on a prepared half-tint ground, printed in black ink on cream wove paper; third state of four (Chicago) — Early Morning
James McNeill Whistler
1878

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