Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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Arthur Haythorne Studd

Alias: Peter
Nationality: English
Date of birth: 1863
Date of death: 1919.01.26
Place of death: Dowsing Nursing home, 3 Dorset Square, Middlesex
Category: collector

Identity:

Arthur ('Peter') Haythorne Studd was an English painter and collector.

Life:

Studd, known as 'Peter' since his art student days, studied at the Slade School of Art in London and then at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he met Whistler around 1892. However, he did not become fully acquainted with Whistler until his return to London in 1894, when he became Whistler's neighbour in Chelsea. From this date Studd and Whistler, whom Studd called the 'Master', were in correspondence. They also worked together at Lyme Regis and Dieppe. The subdued tone and limited range of colour of Studd's landscapes were greatly influenced by those of Whistler.

Around 1897 Whistler drew a charcoal portrait of Studd, Arthur H. Studd m1499. It remained in Whistler's studio until his death, when it came into the possession of Whistler's sister-in-law and executor Rosalind Birnie Philip. An inscription on the verso in her handwriting, 'To Arthur H Studd / in affectionate remembrance / from 'The ladies of the family' / August 11th. 1903', suggests that she had intended to present the work to Studd, but it was eventually bequeathed to the University of Glasgow.

Studd had a large private income and bought a number of Whistler pastels and paintings, including Chelsea fruit shop m1117, Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl y052, Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights y115 and Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169. Whistler declared in 1894 that he was glad that Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl y052 was in the 'sympathetic care of a confrère'. The previous owner, the wallpaper manufacturer John Gerald Potter, who had also at one time owned Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights y115, had purchased the painting for less than £150. He sold it to Studd in 1893 for £1400. C. L. Freer of Detroit offered Studd £250,000 for Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl y052, Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights y115 and Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169, but Studd refused to sell. All three were bequeathed by Studd, against the wishes of Whistler, to the National Gallery in London in 1919 and transferred to the Tate Gallery in 1951. He also bought several lithographs by Whistler from the Fine Art Society in 1895.

Inspired by Paul Gauguin, Studd travelled to Tahiti in 1897. He left his manservant Auguste with Whistler for a short period in January of that year.

Bibliography:

Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 ; Spink, Nesta R., Harriet K. Stratis, and Martha Tedeschi, The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler, (gen. eds, Harriet K. Stratis and Martha Tedeschi), 2 vols., Chicago, 1998 , pp. 172-73; MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 .