Provenance

• 1874: it was commissioned and paid for by Frederick Richards Leyland (1832-1892), but remained in Whistler's hands;
• 1879/1882: returned to Leyland by Whistler;
• 1892: said to have been bequeathed to his son Frederick Dawson Leyland (1856-1916) with a life interest to the sitter, Frances Leyland (1834-1910);
• 1910: passed to her daughter Florence Leyland (1859-1921), Mrs Val Prinsep.
• 1916: bought from the art dealer Alice Buell Creelman (1858-1952) by Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919), New York;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Frick Collection, New York.

On 12 June 1874 Whistler acknowledged receipt of a cheque for £210 for 'the portrait of Mrs Leyland' from F. R. Leyland. 1 The painting was sufficiently complete for exhibition in 1874 but was not sent to Leyland at that time. After their quarrel over Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room [YMSM 178], Leyland may have abandoned hope of receiving it, and he commissioned Philip Richard Morris (1836-1902) to paint his wife. Apparently Morris asked Whistler if he minded and, misinterpreting Whistler's response, accepted the commission. Whistler was not pleased, 'You are asked to paint another mans picture - & you do so', he complained. 2 Morris's Portrait of Frances Leyland, now in a private collection, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1878.

When Leyland demanded delivery of the portraits commissioned by him, Whistler prevaricated. Finally Walter Theodore Watts-Dunton (1832-1914) wrote to Whistler on 1 February 1878,

'All that Mr Leyland asks for are his naked rights and I cannot, notwithstanding your letter, think that you wish to withhold from him the property he has bought and paid for. Be kind enough to state in precise terms what are your intentions'. 3

Whistler responded:

'It is far from my wish to rob Leyland of any real right - whatever may be my opinion of his conduct - The portraits of himself and Mrs Leyland I have witheld [sic] because of certain remarks in one of his letters impugning their artistic value, and whereas I do not acknowledge that a picture once bought merely belongs to the man who pays the money, but that it is the property of the whole world, I consider that I have a right to exhibit such picture that its' [sic] character may be guaranteed by brother artists - therefore it was my intention to show, in a public exposition these two paintings this spring - and thereupon restore them to their chance purchaser … I propose to hand him over these ... pictures very shortly.' 4

The painting may have been returned by Whistler to Leyland in 1878/1879 or in the mid-1880s. It was bequeathed by Leyland in 1892 to his son, with a life interest to the sitter, according to the Pennells. In 1906 both Whistler's and Morris's portraits were hanging in the sitter's drawing room. 5

Exhibitions

• Mr Whistler's Exhibition, Flemish Gallery, 48 Pall Mall, London, 1874 (cat. no. 2) as 'Portrait, "Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink".'

Press cuttings show that the portrait was well received. One critic stated:

'Amongst the portraits precedence is claimed by the exquisite "Symphony in pink and flesh colour" – a lady whose costume helps to bear out the experiment announced by the title. It would be impossible to imagine anything more tender and delicate than the graduations of colour throughout this wonderful picture; the blossoming spray on the left is perfectly marvellous, whilst in drawing the head is one of the finest things we ever saw.' 6

Several press cuttings about the exhibition were kept by Whistler but were unfortunately not identified: one critic wrote that in the portrait of Mrs Leyland, 'Japanese feeling is slightly introduced but not obtruded', and another commented:

'The portrait of Mrs Leyland is an experiment in harmony of colours such as no-one but Mr Whistler dares attempt: he has succeeded to a marvellous degree; the exquisite blending of one colour with another cannot be expressed in words; it is indeed like a melody, lovely and sweet, whose construction it is impossible to analyse.' 7

Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland, The Frick Collection

In a letter to George A. Lucas in January 1873, Whistler proclaimed: ‘my frames I have always designed as carefully as my pictures - and thus they form as important a part as any of the rest of the work - carrying on the particular harmony throughout.' 8 This work illustrates that statement: the frame served to connect the painting to the surrounding environment for the first exhibition of the painting in the Flemish Gallery in 1874. The gallery setting was meticulously created with the assistance of the frame-maker and decorator Fox. He was hired by Whistler in April 1874 ‘to inspect & see what repairs were necessary to the Gallery & to decorate same according to his designs’: Fox washed and distempered the walls and ceiling with light washes of colour, and it is evident from Fox’s detailed account that the colour of the room was of great importance to Whistler.

'Mr Fox then colored the walls with 2 coats of Pink distemper & the ceiling with 1 coat & after Mr Whistler did not like the effect the color [sic] being too light. The ceiling was then done with 1 coat of brown distemper & the wall with 2 coats of pink grey distemper - The skylight was washed & had one coat of white paint - the panels underneath the sky light had 2 coats of paint - the panels grey pink - the [styles?] (round the panels) pink - the mouldings round the panels were formerly gilt - but Mr Fox put 2 coats of color on the gilt ...

Mr Fox had to stop the wainscotting before painting & the upper part of the division he painted in 4 coats of White paint - & in the lower division he formed into 20 odd panels formed of 1½ inch moulding - He painted it with 3 coats of paint - [or?] white with grey mouldings.' 9

The matting depicted in the canvas also serves an important purpose. Not only is Mrs Leyland shown standing upon it, but Whistler also placed this mat (which was of his own design) within the Flemish Gallery, thus connecting the painted world of the canvas to the physical world of the viewer. This portrait and frame illustrates what the Flemish Gallery must have looked like. Whistler put colour tones everywhere – in front of the viewer, on the walls, above on the ceiling, and even below at their feet. This patterning of the mat also repeats on the frame of Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland [YMSM 106], and similarly on the frame of Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander [YMSM 129]. The frame serves as a very important link between the painted world of Mrs Leyland and that of the viewer.