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Titles
Two different titles are known:
- 'Alice Butt - No. 2.' (1900, Whistler). 1
- 'Alice Butt' (1901, Whistler). 2
- 'Une Jeune Fille des Rues' (1904, T. Duret). 3
- 'Une Jeune Fille des Rues, 1878-1887' (1904, Copley Society, Boston). 4
- 'Alice Butt (1)' (1980, YMSM). 5
The same model appears in Alice Butt (2) [YMSM 438]. McLaren Young suggested that Alice Butt (1) [YMSM 437] was painted in Chelsea in the early 1880s, and that the French title 'Une Jeune Fille des Rues', used at the time of the Boston exhibitions in 1904 and 1934, was Duret's rather than Whistler's. 6
Description
Alice Butt, Private Collection
A half-length portrait of a girl in upright format. She has dark shoulder-length hair, and is facing the viewer. She wears a dark dress and scarf, and light apron.
A former owner described it as 'very subdued in coloring, black and shades of grey. Full oval face, dark eyes and hair, and a lovely wistful expression. she has a black cloak over her dress of lighter grey with touches of red.' 7
Sitter
Alice Caroline Butt (1879-1954). According to Whistler, he painted 'a little child called "Alice Butt"- charming - quite Italian in type' in Chelsea. 8
Notes:
1: Note by Whistler, [March/May 1900], GUW #12717.
2: Whistler to J. J. Cowan, 2 July [1901], GUW #00746.
3: Duret 1904 [more], repr. p. 89.
4: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 29).
5: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 437).
6: Duret 1904 [more], repr. p. 89.
7: Isabella M. Lyman (Mrs Charles F. Lyman) to F. W. Coburn, 21 August 1946, typescript copy sent to J. W. Revillon, GUL WPP files.
Last updated: 5th June 2021 by Margaret
