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The Title to the French Set

Dedicatee Sir Francis Seymour Haden British
1858
Not on view
Whistler here depicts himself outdoors working on a copper plate surrounded by fascinated children. The image responds to a Rhineland tour he made in the summer and fall of 1858 and was used to introduce "Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" (Twelve Etchings from Nature), the artist's first published set. The title indicates his realist affinities with lettering added to credit Auguste Delâtre as printer and dedicating the work to Seymour Haden. As Whistler’s brother-in-law, the latter had encouraged his first serious etchings. Even when dressed in a loose traveling suit, the artist cuts a dashing figure, with romantically long hair and a beribboned hat.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Title to the French Set
  • Series/Portfolio: French Set ("Douze eau-fortes d'apres Nature" 1858)
  • Artist: James McNeill Whistler (American, Lowell, Massachusetts 1834–1903 London)
  • Dedicatee: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (British, London 1818–1910 Bramdean, Hampshire)
  • Date: 1858
  • Medium: Etching, printed in black ink on tan chine on off-white wove paper (chine collé); only state (Glasgow)
  • Dimensions: plate: 4 3/8 x 5 3/4 in. (11.1 x 14.6 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of William Loring Andrews, 1883, transferred from the Library
  • Object Number: 83.1.34
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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