Spring

Spring is one of a number of chalk and pastel drawings James McNeill Whistler made from the mid-1880s on that shows female figures either nude or draped in clinging or nearly transparent drapery; the Terra Foundation collection includes several other examples. The setting of an arbor, with its grid-like organization of vertical and horizon forms, serves as a backdrop to the woman, who is bent gracefully over a pot of flowers on a decorative stand. Her profile pose and diaphanous gown, drawn tight against her body by encircling ribbons, evoke classical imagery and echo the allegorical use of ideal females in archaic drapery so popular among Whistler’s American and European contemporaries.

Spring demonstrates the artist’s typical use of materials in his late studies of female figures. Forms are sketchily outlined in thin black lines, with white and bright color used to highlight the rounded forms of limbs beneath clothing; with its earthy tone and texture, the paper is treated as a medium in itself rather than as mere support for the pastel, and sets off the latter’s rich, dense but soft color. In Spring Whistler’s delicate touch complements both the female figure and the seasonal theme she embodies. The artist’s portrayal of the woman as aesthetic object exemplifies his credo of "art for art’s sake," the idea of sheer visual beauty and harmony, independent of moral or anecdotal content, as the ultimate end of art.

Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Copley Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, February 1904, no. 134.

Kansas City Collects, William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, n.d.

James McNeill Whistler, The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, January 13–February 25, 1968; Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York, March 17–April 28, 1968. [exh. cat.]

Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography, The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venues: The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, June 6–August 30, 1998; The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 1–January 3, 1999. [exh. cat.]

The Decorative Form: The Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts and the Asian Influence in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, September 16–December 5, 1999.

Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, May 9–July 9, 2000.

Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, April 1–November 30, 2001. [exh. cat.]

A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois (organizer). Venue: Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois, November 16, 2002–February 16, 2003 (on exhibit extended run: November 2, 2002–March 2, 2003).

Pyne, Kathleen. "Classical Figures, A Folding Screen by Thomas Dewing." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 59.1 (Spring 1981): 6, 7. Text pp. 6, 7.

Sotheby's New York, New York (September 14, 1995): lot 121. Text lot 121; ill. cover, lot 121.

MacDonald, Margaret F. James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels, and Watercolours; A Catalogue Raisonné. New Haven, Connecticut and London, England: Yale University Press, 1995. Text no. 1397, p. 507; ill. no. 1397, p. 506 (color).

Tedeschi, Martha and Britt Salvesen. "Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography." Museum Studies 24:1 (1998): 4–135. Text p. 75 (checklist); fig. 89, p. 69 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 24 (checklist); ill. p. 44 (color).

Cartwright, Derrick R. L'Héroïque et le quotidian: les artistes américains, 1820–1920. (exh. cat., Musée d'Art Américain Giverny). Chicago, Illinois: Terra Foundation for the Arts, 2001. Text p. 24 (checklist); ill. p. 44 (color).