A Child on a Couch, No. 2

1874

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This sketch shows a child curled up on a couch, wrapped in a blanket. The lines are loose and quick, almost like scribbles. The couch looks soft, and the child’s body is relaxed, but the drawing isn’t detailed—just rough shapes and strokes. The artist left some tiny orange spots on the page, maybe for color notes. The paper looks old, with faint marks and smudges. This is one of Whistler’s early studies—check out James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903) to see how he worked.