DISCOVERART

John Douglas Miller

The First Whisper of Love

c. 1889
Watercolor on ivory wove paper
57.2 × 39.9 cm (22.5 × 15.7 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

John Douglas Miller was a skilled mezzotint engraver who reproduced Renaissance-era and contemporary works with a painterly touch. This rare, pristine intermediary model drawing was made by Miller after William Bouguereau’s small-scale studio version of his painting The First Whisper of Love . Artists and printmakers relied heavily on these drawings during the process of designing prints and often destroyed them afterward.

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