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

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M.1266
r.: Butterfly; v.: Tail of butterfly

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1890/1892
Collection: Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Accession Number: 2006685424
Medium: r.: pen and black ink; v.: pen and purple ink
Support: off-white card, with printed butterfly on small, 16 x 13 mm (5/8 x 1/2"), rectangle cut from book (Whistler 1890), stuck to it
Size: 3 1/4 x 4 15/16" (82 x 125 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: 'Top No 6./ No. 6/ Page 331./ size.'
print

r.: Butterfly; v.: Tail of butterfly

Description

r.: Butterfly, Library Of Congress
r.: Butterfly, Library Of Congress

The butterflies derive remotely from Whistler's monogram 'JW', with, in addition, a barbed tail. They are designs for Whistler 1892 [more]. A cut-out butterfly from the first edition of The Gentle Art of Making Enemies is stuck on the recto.

Last updated: 19th March 2021 by Margaret