
Read the visual description
This is a drawing of a domestic interior scene with figures engaged in various activities. The setting appears to be a small, enclosed space. The drawing is composed predominantly of intricate line work and hatching. In the center, a window with shuttered blinds is discernible, casting soft light into the room. Below the window, a group is gathered, with a central figure holding what could be a child. The lines are gestural and the forms are hinted rather than explicitly detailed, suggesting a moment frozen in casual intimacy. The overall tone of the drawing is warm and homey, despite the minimalistic and sketch-like execution.
National Gallery of Art · Print
Bead-Stringers
James McNeill Whistler
- Date
- 1880
- Medium
- etching and drypoint in black on laid paper
- Dimensions
- sheet (trimmed to the platemark): 23.02 × 15.4 cm (9 1/16 × 6 1/16 in.)
- Classification
- Accession number
- 2015.19.403
- Credit line
- Corcoran Collection (Bequest of Julius Garfinckel, 1938)
- Time span
- 1876 to 1900
- Department
- CG-W
Portfolio and series
- Series
- Twenty-Six Etchings
Subjects and terms
- American
- etching
- drypoint
- Women
- Craftsman
- Jewelry
- women
- figure
Provenance
Henry Harper Benedict, New York; (Harlow, McDonald & Co., New York); Julius Garfinckel, Washington, DC; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1938; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art
NGA object ID 169633. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.