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

 

M.0749
The Little Riva; in opal

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1879/1880
Collection: Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel, MS
Accession Number: 27.31
Medium: chalk and pastel
Support: brown wove paper
Size: 6 x 11 7/8" (152 x 301 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: 'N37. 11 1/4 x 5 1/4'

The Little Riva; in opal

Provenance

  • 1927: bought on 9 April from the John Levy Galleries, New York, by Wallace Brown Rogers (1870-1943), Eastman Foundation, Laurel, for the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art.

The earlier provenance is unknown.

Exhibitions

  • 1881: possibly Venice Pastels, Fine Art Society, London, 1881 (cat. no. 3) as 'The Little Riva; in opal'.

It was described in the Daily Telegraph as 'truly opalescent in its blinking inner light and flecks of cobalt, and other pure, lustrous tints.' 1

Notes:

1: Anon., 'Venice Pastels, Daily Telegraph, London, 5 February 1881; GUL Whistler PC4, p. 48.

Last updated: 16th February 2021 by Margaret