Green and Blue: The Dancer
James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903)c. 1893
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Materials & printing
Archival matte paper, 189 g/m² (10.3 mil), sourced from Japan, printed with multicolor water-based inkjet so every brushstroke stays crisp. Framed prints arrive ready to hang in a .75″ ayous-wood frame with an acrylite front. Sized to standard frames by cropping, never stretching — at most about 3% comes off one edge, which isn’t noticeable on most pieces, and we only offer a size when it stays that small.
Shipping & returns
Made to order and delivered in 5–8 business days (2–4 to print, 3–4 in transit). US shipping only for now. Because each print is made for your order, all sales are final — but if it arrives damaged or defective, send us a photo within 14 days and we’ll replace it free. Full policy.
Why is it this affordable?
A thin, flat margin on every piece — just enough to keep the store running. Most of what you pay is the print itself. We only sell sizes that reproduce at full quality, and we don’t mark up the large sizes the way most shops do.
About this work
Inspired by Greek sculpture and Japanese prints, James McNeill Whistler became entranced with portraying the female form clad in diaphanous drapery in the 1890s. He developed this theme in all the media in which he worked, including transfer lithography, oil, pastel, and watercolor. The artist usually provided garments for his models to wear, often classical gossamer gowns with high waists and crossed bodices paired with brightly colored kerchiefs. His models needed a certain degree of strength and agility, as he sometimes asked them to dance about his studio until he found a suitable pose. In Green and Blue: The Dancer, Whistler employed thin watercolor washes to distill the graceful movements of his lissome young model. The brown paper on which he painted lends opacity to the washes, thereby adding subtle weight to the thin veils of fabric draping the figure.
- Medium
- Watercolor and opaque watercolor over traces of black chalk on brown wove paper laid down on card
- Original size
- 27.5 × 18.3 cm (10 7/8 × 7 1/4 in.)
Museum record · 2 owners · 11 exhibitions
Provenance
- R. A. Canfield, Providence, R.I., acquired directly from the artist, May 1903; sold to Knoedler and Company, New York, March 1914; sold to Harris Whittemore (1864-1927), April 1914; sold, Christie's, New York, December 6, 1985, lot 178, to Peter Terian, New York.
- Sold by David Nisinson, New York to the Art Institute, 1988.
Exhibitions
- Boston, Copley Society, "Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels, and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of he Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler," February 1904.
- Buffalo, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, "The Works of J. A. McNeill Whistler from the Collection of Mr. Richard Canfield of Providence, Rhode Island," September 10-October 10, 1909.
- Berlin, Könikliche Akademie der Kunste, "Austellung Amerikanischer Kunst," March-April 1910; traveled to Munich, Royal Art Society, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.
- Buffalo, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, "Oils, Water Colors, Pastels, and Drawings by James McNeill Whistler lent by Mr. Richard Canfield," March 7-April 27, 1911.
- New York, Knoedler and Company, "Oils, Water Colors, Pastels, and Drawings by J. McN. Whistler," 1914.
- Boston, Museum of Fine Art, "Oils, Water-Colors, Drawings, and Prints by James McNeill Whistler," April 24-May 13, 1934.
- New York, Carroll Carstairs Gallery, "Whistler: pastels and water colours," January 12-February 5, 1938.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "From the Ridiculous to the Sublime: British Drawings from the Permanent Collection", December 20, 1988-April 24, 1989.
- New York, The Frick Collection, "From Pontormo to Seurat: Drawings Recently Acquired by The Art Institute of Chicago," April 23-July 7, 1991, n.p.; The Art Institute of Chicago, September 10, 1991-January 5, 1992.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography," June 6-August 30, 1998, 59, 60 and 75; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, October 2, 1998-January 3, 1999.
- The Art Institute of Chicago, "The Broad Spectrum: Color on Paper, Past and Present," September 12–October 31, 1999, hors. cat.
