Provenance

• 1885/1886: commissioned by Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942);
• 1887: Sickert made the final payment for the portrait.

The sitter's husband Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) commissioned a portrait of his wife, Ellen 'Nellie' Millicent Ashburner Cobden, Mrs W. R. Sickert (1848-1914). However, shortly afterwards he asked Whistler to let him have back the deposit temporarily. 1 In October 1887 Sickert sent Whistler a final cheque for '£42. 10. the balance for Nellie's portrait.' 2

Exhibitions

• 1887: 64th Annual Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1887 (cat. no. 157) as 'Arrangement in violet and pink. (Portrait of Mrs. Walter Sickert)'.

According to The Sunday Times, the portrait was barely completed, and the paint had sunk in, when it was exhibited at the RBA, but it was described favourably:

'The figure is beautifully drawn, posed with grace and actuality, and is replete with refinement. The dark violet dress ... against a pink curtain, and relieved by the red of a pretty hat and handkerchief is a masterly piece of painting. The right arm daintily holds the dress, while the left carries the hat.' 3

Similarly, the colour harmony was appreciated by the Globe, but the reviewer criticized it for being 'undefined in form, and somewhat vaporous in effect'. 4

The Illustrated London News described Whistler's group of works: 'The central, and in a sense the most important, work is Mr. Whistler's “Arrangement in Violet and Pink” (157), but which to ordinary mortals is more intelligible as a portrait of Mrs. Walter Sickert.' 5 The Artist commended it as 'a full-length portrait of Mrs. Walter Sickert, an “Arrangement in Violet and Pink,” eminently powerful in handling, and full of refinement.' 6