A Corsican Child

A Corsican Child by James McNeill Whistler, dated 1901, was painted during or following his visit to Ajaccio on the island of Corsica — one of his final travel ventures before his health declined sharply. Corsica, Napoleon's birthplace, attracted British and American travellers, and Whistler was drawn there partly by the light and partly by the unfamiliar faces and types it offered. The study of a Corsican child continues his interest in children as subjects for quiet, undemonstrative investigation of figure and tone. The Glasgow Hunterian holds this among several Corsican works from the same journey.

Whistler handles the child's figure with extraordinary economy — a few brushstrokes suggesting the costume, careful attention to the face within an otherwise summary treatment. His tonal control ensures that the restricted palette reads as a unified whole rather than a fragmentary sketch.