Provenance

• 1903: sold by the artist through Hannah, Mrs E. K. Johnson (1851-1935) to John Balli (1849-1914) , Paris, in February;
• 1913: sold at auction, John Balli sale, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 22 May 1913 (lot 25);
• 1913: bought from Albert Louis Roullier (1858-1920), Chicago art dealer, by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) , Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed by C. L. Freer to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Whistler wrote to Mrs E. K. Johnson on 1 February 1903: 'The Irish Girl & The Neighbours are the two that would be at his [Balli's] disposal if he likes.' 1 It was sold by the artist through Mrs Johnson to John Balli in February 1903 for 400 guineas (£378 plus commission). 2

Balli's collection was first exhibited at the Goupil Gallery in London and then sold by the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris. It included important works by Corot and Barbizon School painters. A reviewer commented:

'One of the most interesting pictures in the collection is a small oil-painting by Whistler entitled Les Voisines, purchased direct from the artist about 1902. Two figures are seen standing in a doorway, a simple but characteristic composition rich in harmoniously balanced tones.' 3

It was bought from the art dealer Albert Roullier by C. L. Freer in November 1913 for $3605 including expenses.

Exhibitions

• 1901: 3rd Exhibition, Pictures, Drawings, Prints and Sculptures, International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, Galleries of the Royal Institute, London, 1901 (cat. no. 34) as 'Gold and Orange – The Neighbours' (repr.)
• 1902: Douzième Exposition, Ouvrages de Peintures, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, Architecture et Objets d'Art, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Grand Palais, Paris, 1902 (cat. no. 1196) as 'Rose et or: Les Voisines'.
• 1903: Thirty-ninth Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Artists of the British and Foreign Schools, Thomas McLean's Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 32) as 'Neighbours'.

In 1901, the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer praised this with Purple and Gold: Phryne the Superb! - Builder of Temples [YMSM 490] as 'pictures of exceptional beauty and striking for their colour arrangements. 4

It was badly hung in the 1902 Paris exhibition, according to Gabriel Mourey (1865-1943). 5

Whistler had been concerned about the placing of his pictures and drew a rough sketch, Panel of five paintings [M.1706], of the proposed arrangement. 6 Five paintings, Violet and Silver: The Great Sea [YMSM 298], Ivoire et or: Portrait de Madame Vanderbilt [YMSM 515], Purple and Gold: Phryne the Superb! - Builder of Temples [YMSM 490], Grenat et or: Le Petit Cardinal [YMSM 469], and Gold and Orange: The Neighbours, were on view in this, the 12th Exhibition of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1902.

By the terms of C. L. Freer's bequest to the Freer Gallery of Art, the painting cannot be lent.