Titles

The 1980 title gave the sitter's name incorrectly:

• 'Portrait of H. R. Eldon (2)' [sic] (1980, YMSM). 1

'Portrait of M. R. Elden (2)' is the preferred title.

Description

According to the Pennells, this painting was a small version of Portrait of H. R. Eldon (1) [YMSM 243]. 2 It was, they said, 'a small half length ... it may be a copy.' 3 Since the original portrait is missing it is impossible to tell what it really looked like.

Sitter

The artist Matthew Robinson Elden (1839-1885) was a close friend and frequent visitor to Whistler's studio from about 1876 until he went mad, dying in an asylum.

Portrait of M. R. Eldon (3), Private Collection

Whistler painted three portraits of him, Portrait of H. R. Eldon (1) [YMSM 243], Portrait of H. R. Eldon (2) [YMSM 244], and Portrait of H. R. Eldon (3) [YMSM 245], which is the only one extant.

His name, incorrectly spelled as 'Eldon' in earlier publications, was corrected to 'Elden' in the online Whistler Correspondence edition in 2003.