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

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Subject Unknown

This unidentified painting dated from 1862. 1

1862: On 18 October Whistler wrote from Guéthary, Basses-Pyrénées, to George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909), asking him to buy two picture frames in Paris, one of which was to satisfy a commission for a 'toile de vingt'. 2 On 27 October Whistler told Lucas that he intended sending it be framed at the colour shop owned by P. Hardy-Alan (fl. 1860-1903) in Paris, and then sent to the 'Boulevards Exposition' (Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts).

However, he told Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) that he was having trouble completing a canvas, although this could have referred to A White Note [YMSM 044]. By the end of November winter had set in, forcing him to leave from Guéthary, as he told Fantin. 3

Notes:

1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 42).

2: GUW #09187; for the second frame see Sea Piece [YMSM 043].

3: [12/19 November 1862], GUW #07952.

Last updated: 26th November 2019 by Margaret