Mme Pelletier, Blanchisserie, Paris

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  Only one impression of this etching is known, and it tackles a subject more closely associated with the work of Whistler’s colleague, French painter Edgar Degas. Degas recast the laundress—a popular subject in the previous century—as an inspiring laborer drawn from modern life. Like Degas, Whistler admired these hardworking women. In 1899 he wrote to his late wife’s sister from Paris, “I just wish you could see my linen as I appear now at the table!” Thanks to “one of these wonderful Blanchisseuses [washerwomen],” his shirts were “gotten up” like those of a prince, and he lamented that “such laundry work” was unknown in Britain.

  Whistler etchings are identified by "G" numbers as assigned in "James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonn&‌eacute;," by Margaret F. McDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock (University of Glasgow, 2012), http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk. This print is G481 state 1 of 1.

• Provenance

  To 1904

  Obach & Co., London, to 1904 [1]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Obach & Co. in 1904 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Etchings, Voucher No. 19, February 1904, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Whistler: Streetscapes, Urban Change (November 18, 2023 to May 4, 2024)

  Whistler in Paris: Lithographs from the Belle Epoque, 1891-1896 (February 21 to August 15, 2004)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Obach & Co. (1884-1911) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Print

• On View

  Freer Gallery 10: Shifting Boundaries: Perspectives on American Landscapes

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1900s, 1880s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Obach & Co.

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Architecture, American Art, Store front, Children, Woman, Etching (printing process), Business

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Prints

• On View

  Yes