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

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Sir Henry Cole, and a list of pictures

Description

Sir Henry Cole, and a list of pictures, The Hunterian
Sir Henry Cole, and a list of pictures, The Hunterian

The list that precedes the drawing of Sir Henry Cole reads as follows:

'1 The little White Girl - / { Blue Wave - / {1 Nocturne in blue & silver - /{1 Symphony in White No 3 - / {1 Harmony & [sic] Purple & gold - / {1 The Lange Lize [sic] of Six Marks / { The Mothers picture / { Miss Alexander / {1 Nocturne - / 1 Taking down the scaffolding of Old Westminster / 1 Harmony in flesh & green balcony / 1. Old Battersea Bridge - / Sea & Rain - Mere Gerard - Swinburne / Trouville - / Valparaiso - / Valparaiso Grey - Peter Brighton.' 1

Purple and Rose: The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Purple and Rose: The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room, Freer Gallery of Art
Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room, Freer Gallery of Art
Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen, Freer Gallery of Art
Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen, Freer Gallery of Art
Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz, Hill-Stead Museum
Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz, Hill-Stead Museum

The text is surrounded by sketches of six pictures: Purple and Rose: The Lange Leizen of the Six Marks [YMSM 047], Harmony in Green and Rose: The Music Room [YMSM 034], Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen [YMSM 060], possibly La Mère Gérard (1) [YMSM 026], and finally Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz [YMSM 041]. There is also a sketch of Sir Henry ('King') Cole (1808-1882), civil servant and museum director [more] who died on 18 April 1882.

Sitter

 Portrait of Sir Henry Cole,  Pennell 1911, repr. f.p. 204
Portrait of Sir Henry Cole, Pennell 1911, repr. f.p. 204
Sir Henry Cole, C.B., ,  Victoria and Albert Museum E.207-2005
Sir Henry Cole, C.B., , Victoria and Albert Museum E.207-2005

Henry Cole (1808-1882) posed for two portraits, neither of which has survived, Portrait of Sir Henry Cole [YMSM 180] and Portrait of Sir Henry Cole [YMSM 233].

Sidney Starr (1857-1925) described Cole senior, whom he saw posing for his portrait, as 'a man with a ruddy face and a white stubby beard'. 2 However, although Cole posed in evening dress, as in the drawing, the hat was left out in the painting.

Notes:

1: GUW #13354.

2: Starr 1908 [more], at p. 532.

Last updated: 10th May 2021 by Margaret