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En plein soleil

Printer Auguste Delâtre French
1858
Not on view
Whistler probably captured this image of a grisette, or working girl holding a parasol, in the countryside near Paris (the title translates to "In Full Sun"). Realist and naturalist ideas circulating among artists in France influenced the unidealized approach. One of Whistler's early etchings, it was made in the summer of 1858 before he set out in mid-August to tour the Rhineland. In November, it was included in "Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" ("Twelve Etchings from Nature"), known as the "French Set."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: En plein soleil
  • Series/Portfolio: French Set ("Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" 1858)
  • Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
  • Printer: Auguste Delâtre (French, Paris 1822–1907 Paris)
  • Date: 1858
  • Medium: Etching, printed in black ink on gray chine on white wove paper (chine collé); third state of three (Glasgow)
  • Dimensions: Plate: 3 15/16 x 5 5/16 in. (10 x 13.5 cm)
    Sheet: 11 15/16 × 17 1/16 in. (30.3 × 43.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
  • Object Number: 17.3.8
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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