La Vieille aux Loques
After visiting the Rhineland during a summer–fall tour in 1858, Whistler created this image of an elderly woman sorting rags (loques). He here develops a formula to which he would often return—using an open entrance to frame a receding interior that contains figures and objects. Like "La Mère Gérard" and "La Rétameuse," the artist focuses on an old working woman, dignified but without sentiment. Created late in 1858 this is one of the most complex prints in "Douze eaux-fortes d’après nature" (Twelve Etchings from Nature), the artist's first published set.
Artwork Details
- Title: La Vieille aux Loques
- 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 and drypoint; fourth state of four (Glasgow); late impression printed in black ink on cream wove paper
- Dimensions: Plate: 8 3/16 × 5 13/16 in. (20.8 × 14.8 cm)
Sheet: 10 5/8 × 7 3/4 in. (27 × 19.7 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Gift of David Keppel, 1917
- Object Number: 17.21.75
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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