Provenance

• 1901 or later: Inez Eleanor Addams (1874-1958).
• By 1969: acquired by the artist Edward Brian Seago (1910-1974), Norfolk, UK;
• 1974: bequeathed by him in January 1974 to Peter Seymour (fl. 1952), Norfolk, UK.
• 1983: bought from the Davis & Langdale Company, Inc., New York, by Daniel J. Terra (1911-1996);
• 1992: Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois;
• 2005: on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago.

The source of information on the early provenance and attribution to Whistler is not known. The painting could in theory have been acquired from the artist by Mrs Clifford Addams (Miss Inez Bate, the Massière at the Académie Carmen from 1899-1901, who became Whistler’s ‘apprentice’ on 21 May 1901. However, some drawings and paintings attributed to Whistler, with the provenance of Inez or her husband Clifford Isaac Addams (1876-1942), do not appear to be by Whistler.

Another work acquired by Seago, A Courtyard with an Open Workshop and a Standing Woman [YMSM 308], is also not believed to be by Whistler.

Exhibitions

• It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.