Japanese Woman Painting a Fan (recto); Standing Woman…

James Mcneill Whistler • 1872

Japanese Woman Painting a Fan (recto); Standing Woman Holding Up Her…, 1872

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After being expelled from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Whistler made his way to Europe, where he pursued the life of the artist-bohemian, first in Paris, and then in London. Whistler was a pioneer in appreciating the effects of Japanese prints, and his art is characterized by an Asian subtlety and delicacy. Whistler signed his work with a monogram representing a butterfly, which appears just below the hand of the model in this drawing.