Provenance

• 1873: sold by Whistler to Alexander Constantine Ionides (1810-1890) and/or his son, Alexander Ionides (1840-1898);
• 1890: Alexander Ionides had sole ownership after the death of A. C. Ionides;
• 1895: sold by Alexander Ionides through Goupil's to George McCulloch (1848-1907) in July;
• 1907: bequeathed to his widow, Mary Agnes McCulloch (later Mrs J. Coutts Michie) (1857-1945), 12 December 1907;
• 1909: sold by Mrs Coutts Michie.
• 1911: sold by William O'Leary Fine Arts, Detroit, to Henry Glover Stevens (1879-1934), Detroit;
• 1934: bequeathed by Henry Glover Stevens (1879-1934) to Detroit Institute of Arts.

According to Whistler, he had originally sold the painting for £50. 1 In July 1895 it was sold through Goupil's to the Australian collector George McCulloch for £700. D.C. Thomson explained:

'He buys your picture really because we tell him that it is a fine work of art, but he does not understand it very well yet. He asks if you would be willing to sign it at the right hand bottom corner for him with your name. As you know it already bears your mark, and this we have pointed out to him.' 2

Whistler objected to this on several counts:

'Be good enough to say to Mr McCulloch with my compliments that the picture is signed - as completely as one of his own cheques is signed when he has written his name upon it. -

If, not content with that, he be ever asked to print it in the "bottom right hand corner", the nature of his own request to me, may become clear to him! -

I have, as you know, my own feelings about these purchases -

That Mr. Ionides should ask 700. for the work for which he gave me fifty pounds, is monstrous shamelessness - and you can tell him so from me. What right has he or any of these others to make one penny out of my brain & my battle! -

Also I am not at all pleased at Mr McCullochs having bought the portrait - as I don't want a single canvass of mine to remain in England.' 3

On the other hand, Whistler used this price as an excuse to raise his prices, explaining to Alexander Reid (1854-1928):

'You will have heard perhaps that the portrait of myself belonging to Mr. Ionides was sold the other day at Goupils (Mr Thomson) for £700 - He paid me £50 - for it - That is a look up for the two full lengths you still have - for my portrait, as you remember, was a half length ... 700 for the Furred Jacket is therefore no longer the price!' 4

Whistler told another art dealer, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932), 'Yes, £700. is a large price for a head - even though it be my own.' 5 By 15 August it appears that Whistler had decided that McCulloch was Scottish (although he persisted in calling him 'McCullough'), and so he was satisfied, 'I am pleased to know that my portrait after all belongs to a Scotchman.' 6

In 1909 the price received by Mrs Coutts Michie was 100 guineas, but shortly afterwards, in July 1909 the painting was offered for sale to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) through Goupil for £3000. 7

Exhibitions

• 1872: Fifth Exhibition of the Society of French Artists [Winter Exhibition], Deschamps Gallery, London, 1872 (cat. no. 30) as 'Arrangement in grey and black No. 2 – a Portrait'.
• 1873: [Exposition], Galerie Durand-Ruel, Paris, 1873.
• 1880: 19th Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Glasgow, 1880 (ex. cat.).
• 1883: Exposition Internationale de Peinture, Galerie George Petit, Paris, 1883 (cat. no. 2) as 'Arrangement gris'.
• 1892: Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 30) as 'Grey and Black. Sketch'.
• 1895: A Connoisseur's Treasures [Alexander Ionides Collection], Goupil Gallery, London, 1895 (cat. no. 10) as 'Portrait of the Artist'.
• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 30) as 'Portrait of the Artist'.
• 1909: Exhibition of Modern Works in Painting and Sculpture forming the Collection of the late George M. McCulloch, Esq., Winter Exhibition 40th year, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1909 (cat. no. 299) as 'Portrait of the Painter'.

In early reviews of this self-portrait it was not the figure but the head that was criticised for its lack of finish. In 1872 The Times wrote: 'How imperfect Mr. Whistler is content to leave his work we may see in a portrait of himself called "Arrangement in gray and black" in the exhibition of French artists in Bond street. This is but the laying in of a head, excellent in modelling and relations of tone and colour, as far as it goes, but only the beginning and suggestion of something which the painter lacks either power or patience to carry out.' 8 Despite the lack of 'finish' it was exhibited frequently.

It was one of the first paintings to be given a musical title, and when Whistler sent his paintings to Durand-Ruel in 1873, he explained to G. A. Lucas, 'my frames … form as important a part as any of the rest of the work - carrying on the particular harmony throughout ... By the names of the pictures also I point out something of what I mean in my theory of painting.' 9

According to 'Megilp', a 'sensational' self-portrait by Whistler, 'extravagant to the last degree', which may have been this portrait, was hung in the Royal Glasgow Institute in Glasgow in 1880, but it was not mentioned in the catalogue or other reviews of the exhibition. 10 According to Lostalot, the self-portrait was shown at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1883 (cat. no. 2) as 'Arrangement gris'. 11

Detail of Six paintings, GUL MS Whistler W784

There is a rough pencil drawing by Whistler of this self-portrait in a list of Six paintings [M.1328] for a possible exhibition at the Royal Society of British Artists about 1886/1887. 12 The idea was abandoned when Whistler resigned as President of the society.

The oil was later described by Whistler as 'A fine portrait of me by myself, life sketch.' 13 The use of the word 'sketch' in a letter to a journalist could be considered as a precaution, avoiding potential criticisms of 'finish'. At first Whistler did not want this self-portrait included in his exhibition at the Goupil Gallery in 1892 but the owner issued an ultimatum, as D. C. Thomson reported to Whistler: 'Ionides poor man professes to be wishful not to be troubled again & says he will lend the portrait now or never!!' 14 Whistler therefore agreed to it being exhibited, but perhaps reluctantly, as in the catalogue it was given the title 'Grey and Black. Sketch', perhaps to avoid criticism of its unfinished appearance.