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

 

Blue and opal - The Photographer

Provenance

  • 1889: bought from Wunderlich's, New York art dealers, in April 1889, by Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) , who owned it until at least 1904.
  • Date unknown: with Harlow McDonald & Co., (formerly Arthur H. Harlow & Co., 667 5 Ave) New York (label).
  • By 1934: owned by Mary Josephine Quinn Sullivan, Mrs Cornelis J. Sullivan (1877-1939), New York, and sent to Macbeth, New York dealers, on 1 November 1934 (Macbeth records, AAA);
  • 1935: probably bought from her by Edwin A. Seasongood (1876-1953) ;
  • 1951: sold at auction, Parke Bernet, New York, 5-6 November 1951 (lot 304);
  • 1951: bought on 6 November from Dr C. J. Robertson by Macbeth, New York dealers;
  • 1952: sold in February to Professor Charles H. Morgan (d. 1984), Amherst College;
  • 1956: sold back to Macbeth, 26 September 1956;
  • 1957: sold to Hirschl and Adler, New York dealers, 16 August 1957;
  • 1959: bought in June by Gerald M. Bordman (1931-2011), Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania;
  • 2011: sold from the Estate of G. M. Bordman, at auction, Freeman's, Philadelphia, 4 December 2011 (lot 68).

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1037); the record has been updated.

Exhibitions

  • 1886: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 25) as 'Blue and opal – The Photographer'.
  • 1889: “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 44) as 'Green and Silver – The Photographer'.
  • 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 87) as 'Green and Silver. The Photographer'.

Last updated: 4th March 2021 by Margaret