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

 

Rue des Buttes Montmartre

Provenance

  • 1923: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 22 June 1923 as 'Rue des Buttes', bought by 'Grace' for £84.0.0.
  • 1925: on the London art market.
  • 1927: with Messrs Spink, London art dealers.
  • Date unknown: acquired by Theodore T. Ellis (1887-1934) , Worcester, MA;
  • 1934: bequeathed to his wife, Mary Griffin Ellis (d. 1940);
  • 1940: bequeathed to Worcester Art Museum, Theodore T. and Mary Griffin Ellis Collection.

There is no known record of this painting before 1923, when it went to auction. 1 In 1925 Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) wrote a certificate of authenticity for it. Unfortunately Sickert was not a reliable witness, particularly writing some 22 years after the artist's death, regarding a painting supposedly painted when Sickert himself was one year old.

Exhibitions

There is no record of an exhibition before 1947, although it may well have been on view in London in the mid 1920s.

Notes:

1: Art Prices Current, vol. 10, 1922, no. 6288.

Last updated: 29th May 2021 by Margaret