Bibi Valentin

James McNeill Whistler American

Not on view

This image of a young girl seated on a bed, wearing a long dress and high buttoned boots, comes from a series of portraits that Whistler made in 1859. The subject, whose pet name was Bibi, was a daughter of the Valentin family. Her mother later wrote to the artist to remind him that they lived on Rue des Sts. Pères in Paris when the etching was made. Of the three examples in the Museum's collection (the others are 17.3.43 and 17.21.69), the drypoint lines in this impression retain more burr, with the plate sensitively wiped.

Bibi Valentin, James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London), Etching and drypoint, printed in black ink on medium weight dark ivory Japan; second state of two, from the damaged plate (Glasgow)

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