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

 

YMSM 112
The Blue Girl: Maud Franklin

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1874/1879
Collection: Whereabouts Unknown
Accession Number: unknown
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: unknown
Signature: unknown
Inscription: unknown
Frame: unknown

The Blue Girl: Maud Franklin

Titles

Only one title, with minor variations, is known:

  • 'the Blue Girl' (1880, Whistler). 1
  • 'The Blue Girl: Maud Franklin' (1980, YMSM). 2

Description

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian
The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

It is likely that the pose and dress was similar to other 'blue girls' such as The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist [YMSM 207].

Sitter

Maud Franklin (1857-ca 1941) . She was Whistler's chief model and partner in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

The portrait was one of several 'Blue Girls', including The Blue Girl: Portrait of Miss Elinor Leyland [YMSM 111], Arrangement in Blue and Green [YMSM 193], The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist [YMSM 207], and Scherzo in Blue: The Blue Girl [YMSM 226].

Notes:

1: Whistler to H. E. Whistler, [22 March 1880], GUW #06688.

2: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 112).

Last updated: 3rd December 2019 by Margaret