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

 

YMSM 526
A Shop with a Balcony

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1899
Collection: The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
Accession Number: GLAHA 46389
Medium: oil
Support: wood
Size: 223 x 137 mm (8 3/4 x 5 3/8")
Signature: none
Inscription: none
Frame: Flat Whistler

A Shop with a Balcony

A Shop with a Balcony probably dates from 1899, although it could date from earlier in the 1890s. 1

A Shop with a Balcony, The Hunterian
A Shop with a Balcony, The Hunterian

In October 1899 Whistler was staying at the Hotel Lefevre in Dieppe, and wrote on 20 October to Rosalind Birnie Philip, 'The "red shop" is getting something wonderful!' 2 It is very likely that this refers to A Shop with a Balcony. The slightly asymmetrical composition of a single arched facade seen squarely from the front is typical of Whistler’s shopfronts.

Notes:

1: Dated '1890s' in YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 526).

2: [20 October 1899], GUW #04752. Whistler was back in Paris by 2 November.

Last updated: 22nd October 2020 by Margaret