Titles
Several possible titles have been suggested:
- 'Crimson Note, Carmen' (1895, Society of Portrait Painters). 1
- 'A Note in Carmine' (1898, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts). 2
- 'Carmine' (1904, Copley Society, Boston). 3
- 'Crimson note: Carmen' (1980, YMSM). 4
'Crimson Note, Carmen' is the preferred title.
Description
Crimson note: Carmen, Hill-Stead Museum
A head-and-shoulders portrait in vertical format. It shows a young woman in three-quarter view to right. She wears a reddish-brown shawl over her dark hair and shoulders, with a white blouse underneath. Her eyes are dark brown and she has a heavy fringe. The background is brown. A large butterfly is painted in black on her sleeve.
Sitter
Carmen Rossi (fl. 1880/1901). Whistler painted several portraits of her, including Rose et or: La Napolitaine [YMSM 505], Violet and Rose: Carmen qui rit [YMSM 506], and Harmony in Rose and Green: Carmen [YMSM 507].
Notes:
1: 5th exhibition, Society of Portrait Painters, London, 1895 (cat. no. 16).
2: Sixty-Seventh Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1898 (cat. no. 460).
3: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 38).
Last updated: 21st November 2020 by Margaret
