Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death, and bequeathed to his ward and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) ;
• 1958: bequeathed by Miss R. Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime. It was first shown at Colnaghi's in London in 1915. Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) complained about the titles of the works, stating that Whistler cried out in them ‘for the qualities he failed to get within the rectangle of his frames. The catalogues are full of “gold” and “silver”, of “amethyst” and “opal”.’ 1 What Sickert perhaps did not realise was that the works exhibited in 1915 did not necessarily bear Whistler's own titles, but titles filtered through the memory and mythologising of his sister-in-law and art dealers.