Portrait of the Sculptor Drouet

While living in London in 1859, the American expatriate James Whistler began devoting himself to portraiture; concurrently, he became very interested in the expressive potential of the drypoint medium. In drypoint, the needle used to incise the design on the copper plate leaves a small metal residue alongside the drawn groove, which then produces intriguing velvety effects when the plate is printed. In London, Whistler had surrounded himself with a group of close friends, mostly artists and writers. Among them was the sculptor Charles L. Drouet (1836–1908), whose portrait Whistler captures here. Drouet’s intellect is clear from the care and attention paid to representing his very serious facial expression. Notably, his clothing is only lightly sketched out: Whistler prided himself on his ability to capture only the essential elements of any scene. In this print, he emphasizes the psychology of the portrait while leaving other aspects to the viewer’s imagination.