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Firelight: Joseph Pennell, No. 2

A work made of transfer lithograph in black on cream laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of transfer lithograph in black on cream laid paper.

Date:

1896

Artist:

James McNeill Whistler
American, 1834-1903

About this artwork

Whistler made four lithographic portraits of the American etcher and lithographer Joseph Pennell in January 1896— all drawn on transfer paper in the London flat Pennell shared with his wife, Elizabeth. This image and a similar seated subject show the deep shadows cast by firelight; the other portrait was chosen to be the frontispiece of the Pennells’ book Lithography and Lithographers, first published in 1898.
Pennell and his wife were Whistler’s friends and remained fervent supporters after his death, collaborating on a two-volume biography of the artist and donating their significant collection of Whistler prints and documents to the Library of Congress in 1917.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

James McNeill Whistler

Title

Firelight: Joseph Pennell, No. 2

Place

United States (Artist's nationality)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1896

Medium

Transfer lithograph in black on cream laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 16.7 × 12.9 cm (6 5/8 × 5 1/8 in.); Sheet: 28.3 × 22.8 cm (11 3/16 × 9 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Crown Family in honor of James N. Wood

Reference Number

2004.642

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/139499/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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