Accession Number
1954/1.317

Title
Little Arthur, One of the 'Twelve Etchings from Nature,' or the 'French Set'

Artist(s)
James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1858

Medium & Support
etching, printed in black ink on Japan paper, laid down on white wove plate paper

Dimensions
12 13/16 in. x 9 5/8 in. ( 32.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

Credit Line
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker

Label copy
Little Arthur, from the French Set, or Twelve Etchings from Nature
1858
Etching on Japan paper
Third state of five (Kennedy 9)
Bequest of Margaret Watson Parker, 1954/1.317
In this portrait of Arthur Haden at about the age of four, Whistler employs bold chiarascuro effects, rendering the face with bright contrasts of light and shadow that convey the fidgeting energy of a young child.

Subject matter
Arthur Charles Haden (1852-1910) was the third of four children born to Whistler's half-sister Deborah and her husband Francis Seymiour Haden; he would have been about six years old when Whistler drew this plate.

Physical Description
A young child sits facing the viewer. He has shoulder length hair, a white collar and dark suit, the pants of which come to just below his knees. His feet are together and his hands rest in his lap beween his knees. The image is strongly lit from the left by an unseen light source.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Western

Rights
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Keywords
boys
seated
seated figures