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Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother

A work made of mezzotint in black on cream china paper, laid down on cream wove paper (chine collé).
Public Domain

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  • A work made of mezzotint in black on cream china paper, laid down on cream wove paper (chine collé).

Date:

1879

Artist:

Richard Josey (English, 1840-1906)
after James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903)

About this artwork

Charles Augustus Howell, a cunning entrepreneur as well as a friend of Whistler, commissioned Richard Josey to create this mezzotint of Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 in 1878. Whistler was struggling financially and hoped that the sale of the print would generate funds at the same time that he was using the painting itself as collateral against badly needed loans. A process that reached its apogee in 18th-century England, mezzotint printmaking involves a subtractive process of burnishing away the rough surface of a metal plate gradually to reveal highlights. The subtle gradations of black and gray that Josey could achieve using this medium reinforced Whistler’s harmonic composition of muted tones.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Richard Josey

Title

Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother

Place

England (Object made in)

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.

1891–1906

Medium

Mezzotint in black on cream China paper, laid down on cream wove paper (chine collé)

Dimensions

Image: 31.5 × 35.2 cm (12 7/16 × 13 7/8 in.); Plate: 43.8 × 44.1 cm (17 1/4 × 17 3/8 in.); Primary support: 42.4 × 42.7 cm (16 3/4 × 16 13/16 in.); Secondary support: 53 × 63.8 cm (20 7/8 × 25 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Clarence Buckingham Collection

Reference Number

1938.1565

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/28594/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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