Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

 

YMSM 437
Alice Butt (1)

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1896/1898
Collection: Private Collection
Accession Number: none
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 63.5 x 47.6 cm (25 x 18 3/4")
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: none

Alice Butt (1)

Alice Butt (1) dates from the mid- to late 1890s, probably between 1896 and 1898. 1

Alice Butt (1), Private Collection
Alice Butt (1), Private Collection

The technique, and the butterfly signature, which appears to be part of the original painting, suggest this date. 2

Early in 1900 Whistler noted the existence of two portraits, 'Alice Butt - No. 1. / painted in Chelsea' and 'Alice Butt - No. 2.' 3 The other portrait is Alice Butt (2) [YMSM 438].

Notes:

1: Dated 'mid-1890s' in YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 437).

2: A. McL. Young dated it 1883 in a letter to W. P. Campbell, National Gallery of Art, 19 July 1972, GU WPP.

3: Note by Whistler, [March/May 1900], GUW #12717.

Last updated: 5th June 2021 by Margaret