Provenance

• By 1905: owned by the sculptor Charles L. Drouet (1836-1908), Paris;
• 1908: bequeathed by Drouet to the Musée du Luxembourg, Paris;
• 1909: accepted by the Musée du Luxembourg, Paris;
• 1922-1925: exhibited in the Musée du Louvre, galerie du Jeu de Paume, Paris;
• 1925: transferred to the Musée du Louvre, Paris;
• 1983: transferred to the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

According to the Pennells, Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) of Detroit wanted it, but was not prepared to give Drouet the 2000 francs asked. 1

Exhibitions

• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (no. 3) as 'Head of an Old Man smoking'.

It was not exhibited in Whistler’s lifetime.