Provenance

• 1902: possibly sold by Carmen Rossi (b. ca 1878 to Charles Hessele (fl. 1892-1914), Paris dealer;
• 1902: possibly sold to Leopold Stevens (1866-1935), and by him to Georges Petit (1856-1920), Paris dealer;
• 1902: possibly bought back from Petit by Whistler;
• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his ward and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1906: sold by her to Richard Albert Canfield (1855-1914) of Providence, for £1000;
• 1914: bought from him by Knoedler, New York dealers, 12 March 1914;
• 1920: sold by Knoedler's to George H. Webster (d. 1934?), Haverhill, MA, January 1920;
• 1934: bequeathed to the Farnsworth Museum, Wellesley College, MA;
• ca 1957: sold by the Farnsworth Museum to Hirschl & Adler, New York dealers;
• 1961: sold to Steven Juvelis (1921-1994), art dealer, Lynn, MA;
• 1962: sold by Juvelis at auction, Christie's, London, 22 June 1962 (lot 20), and bought by Nicholls, 700 guineas, for Julius H. Weitzner (1896-1986), London art dealer.
• 1967: sold at auction, Sotheby's, London, 12 April 1967 (lot 51), bought in by Helverton at £700;
• 1968: with David David, Philadelphia art dealer.
• 1978: with Kennedy Galleries, New York.
• 1982: bought by the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.

The early history of this painting is confused and the later, complicated.

In 1899 the art dealer Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) suggested that Whistler might like to send a portrait of Carmen – he does not say which, but it could well be this portrait – to him in New York. Whistler replied:

'So while you have been silently softening toward the Carmen, I had no inkling of such gentle concession. - so that I have received overheated advances for the possession of the picture, and have promised to entertain them - from a man here who has just now carried off seven paintings that you, for the last two years, had not perceived as sufficiently "grown" to be of service.' 1

The purchaser of 'seven works' appears to have been Charles Hessele or Hessèle, whose name is recorded in Whistler's ledger, but it is not absolutely certain that the sale went through (see St Ives, The Nets on the Hill [YMSM 270]).

In August 1901 Whistler discovered that his model, Carmen Rossi, had sold some of his pictures to Hessele, and he enlisted the help of his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), and the Massières of the Académie Carmen, Clifford Isaac Addams (1876-1942) and Inez Eleanor Addams (1874-1958), to persuade Carmen Rossi to provide information on the transaction. 2 By April 1902 negotiations were on foot with Carmen Rossi and her husband to retrieve a portrait of Carmen, probably this one. 3 On 9 June 1902 Clifford Addams reported to Whistler that Carmen Rossi was prepared to sell 'her portrait.' 4 He elaborated on the situation, which was far from clear:

'Madame Carmen seems to offer the portrait as a guarantee of her present wish to commence relations with Mr Whistler again ... She regrets that the price of her redemption has gone up and alleges that M. Petit has sold the picture to a friend, from whom it is abstracted by M. Petit in order it appears to be rid of a transaction which has brought him into comment.

To probe Mme Carmen as to this change of temporary ownership, I went so far as to suggest that she should be the one to touch the 1500! She swore by everything known: that she was not a beneficiary. 7000 left her always ready to abandon her sale - 8000 interested her but she left no alternative, saying that 8500 was absolute.

Hessel has once offered 12000 to her -

... I think the Gang will be gladly told that 1500 has been gained but whether they are underneath this frank sale I am ignorant. ...

She did hypothecate the portrait & gave her name to a paper & received no promise in return, simply money - so she claims to be unable to get the picture for the original 7000f & can only arrange for my visiting the friend of Petit presumably not representing you.

... I have ventured to wire you for the money as for two months, she has fought shy. The proper receipt & the document of the original sale effected through Hessel, with Carmens name to it, I shall insist on having. Hessel made 500f on that. This, dear Master, is sent in haste & bears my wishes for success, to be obtained, I still hope for 7000.' 5

Whistler first insisted that she must agree to 7000 francs, then 8000, then sent a cheque for 8500. 6 However the affair was not settled: on 13 June 1902 Inez Addams wrote:

'negotiations are suspended until tomorrow - this is owing to an interview with Carmen & Rossi this morning - when my husband seeing a probable chance of obtaining the picture for 7500 frs - pushed this chance; & tomorrow is to go with Carmen to M. Georges Petit - who is to hand over the picture - Carmen assumes that he bought it for 7500 frs - the odd 500 going to the intermediary - but who this is - it seems impossible to find out.

... my husband ... believes Georges Petit gets the 1000 of 8500 having to be paid … Presumably the picture is on sale for a few days only, after that it is supposed to go to the man whom they say has bought it!' 7

Next day they reported partial success:

'it was not possible to conclude the purchase for less that 8500 francs

It had been arranged with Carmen and Rossi yesterday that it could be obtained by them for 8000 - my husband pretending that you would only give 7000 that he himself would offer 500 & Rossi said he would give another 500, and they were all to go to M. Georges Petit this morning - Carmen coming here first -

As she did not come Mr Addams went to her house and word had been left with the concierge that "Elle ne peut pas arranger vôtre affaire" and ... she would not be seen.

Then my husband went immediately to M. Georges Petit. There also he found the same desire not to be interviewed ...

it was said that the price was 8500 frs & nothing less -

That the picture had originally belonged to M. Stevens & was being sold by him ...

it was arranged that it should be handed over to my husband on receipt of 8500 frs & "should be fetched from some gentleman whom they were not at liberty to name["] ... it was brought & my husband has a stamped receipt - It is now here.' 8

The receipt reads:

'Reçu de Monsieur Addams la somme de Huit mille cinq cents francs pour rétrocession d'un tableau par Whistler - Portrait de femme, qu'il avait vendu à M. Léopold Stévens et que ce dernier avait vendu à M. Georges Petit.' 9

The receipt is annotated: 'On 2 Augt Messrs Webb wrote George Petit pointing out that this picture was never sold by Mr Whistler to Leopold Stevens.' And the Lawyers did so write, and that, at last, was that. 10

According to the Pennells, writing many years later,

'for months he had been worried and annoyed by the disappearance of much work from the studio ... the missing work began to reappear for sale in Paris shops and other places ... we heard from a Paris dealer of [works] being brought to him by servants of Whistler's who ... explained that it was thus he paid them.' 11

The Pennells record that Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) had Carmen Rossi followed to Rome and bought some pictures from her, while she sold others (Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon,Venice [YMSM 212]) at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris after Whistler's death, saying that 'Whistler gave her the paintings ... instead of money, in payment of bills he owed her.' 12 In 1902 Freer noted in his diary seeing three portraits of Carmen in Whistler's studio, including 'one red / One Black / shawl around neck (stolen).' 13 It is not entirely clear which portraits Freer saw, nor which was the stolen portrait, nor indeed if one actually had been stolen.

Rose et or: La Napolitaine, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

Violet and Rose: Carmen qui rit, The Hunterian

Harmony in Rose and Green: Carmen, The Hunterian

In two of the portraits the model is wearing a pink dress (Violet and Rose: Carmen qui rit [YMSM 506], Harmony in Rose and Green: Carmen [YMSM 507]). In two there are areas of red (a red shawl in Violet and Rose: Carmen qui rit and a red background in Harmony in Rose and Green: Carmen). She wears a shawl in two (Rose et or: La Napolitaine [YMSM 505] and Violet and Rose: Carmen qui rit). None appears particularly black, although her hair is in each case very dark. In any case Freer apparently did not expect to purchase any of the portraits he saw in 1902 (in his diary it was his practice to initial his purchases 'CLF').

The later provenance of Rose et or: La Napolitaine [YMSM 505] is straightforward: it was in Whistler's possession by the time of his death in 1903, and bequeathed to Miss R. Birnie Philip, who sold it to the gambler R. A. Canfield for £1000, and sent it to Obach & Co. for shipment on 3 April 1906. 14 The history of the portrait is fairly clear thereafter, although many art dealers and auction houses were involved before the painting arrived in Madrid.

Exhibitions

• 1904: 14th Exhibition, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, London, 1904 (cat. no. 4) as 'Rose et Or: La Napolitaine'.

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.