Portrait of Carlyle (after Whistler's Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2)

Edouard Henri Leon

Though most printmaking references have concentrated on Whistler's influence on creative printmaking, his work also influenced painters and artist - craftsmen as well, as in this work, a color etching, reproducing one of Whistler's more famous paintings.

The etching was published with the permission of the Glasgow City Council, or 'The Glasgow Corporation', which owned the painting. It was published by the French publisher "F. Gittler."

Whistler painted "Arrangement in Grey and Black, No.2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle" in oil on canvas in 1872-3 and it now resides in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland. It depicts the Scottish social critic, philosopher and historian Thomas Carlyle in a composition similar to that of Whistler's Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Artist's Mother, painted in 1871.

The Wikipedia entry for the painting states:

"By the time he sat for Whistler, Thomas Carlyle had lived in Chelsea, London, for 47 years, and was one of its most recognized residents. He lived at 24 Cheyne Row, now Carlyle's House, which is preserved as a museum, very near to Lindsey House, now 96 Cheyne Walk, where Whistler had his studio.

Accompanied by a mutual friend, Carlyle visited Whistler's studio, viewed the painting of the artist's mother, and according to Whistler 'He liked the simplicity of it, the old lady sitting with her hands in her lap, and said he would like to be painted. And he came one morning soon, and he sat down, and I had the canvas ready, and my brushes and palette, and Carlyle said, 'And now, mon, fire away!'"