Provenance

• Date unknown: possibly acquired from the artist by Thomas Way (1837-1915) , and passed to his son, Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) ;
• By 1910: bought by Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) , New York dealer;
• 1912: according to Way, owned by David A. Kennedy (fl. 1895-1915) .
• Date unknown: owned by Howard Mansfield (1849-1938);
• 1947: given by George W. Davison, Class of 1892, to Wesleyan University.

Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 836).

Exhibitions

The note by Howard Mansfield accompanying the drawing stated that Whistler was 'suggesting arrangements of his Venice etchings for exhibition in London.' In the exhibition, Whistler hung three etchings on each wall, alternating etchings of horizontal and vertical format. The exhibition opened at The Fine Art Society in London in December 1880. second one on 17 February 1883. However, this sketch was probably connected with the selection, not the exhibition, of the set. The drawing itself was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.