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

 

YMSM 254
Note in Red: The Siesta

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1883/1884
Collection: Terra Foundation for American Art, Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number: 1999.149
Medium: oil
Support: wood
Size: 21.1 x 30.5 cm (8 5/16 x 12")
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: none

Note in Red: The Siesta

Catalogues Raisonnés

  • Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 254), plate 174, as 'Note in Red: The Siesta'.

Authored by Whistler

  • None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

  • 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 17) as 'Note in red – The Siesta'.
  • Possibly Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures & Photography: A Loan Collection of Pictures by Mr Whistler ..., Dublin Sketching Club, Dublin, 1884 (cat. no. 236).
  • Possibly III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1888 (cat. no. 58) as 'Eine rote Stimmung'.
  • “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 26) as 'A Red Note – The Sofa'.
  • Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 84) as 'La Note Rouge'.
  • Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 142) as 'La Note Rouge' in deluxe edition.

Newspapers 1855-1905

  • Anon., ‘Notes – Harmonies – Nocturnes’, Sunday Times, London, 24 May 1884.
  • Anon., 'The Private View at the Dublin Sketching Club', Dublin Daily Express, Dublin, 1 December 1884, p. 5.
  • Anon., 'Etchings, Drawings, Pastels', New York Times, New York, 3 March 1889, p. 5.

Journals 1855-1905

  • ‘An Enthusiast’, [Sickert, W. R.], 'Mr Whistler and His Art', Artist, vol. 5, 1 June 1884, p. 199-201.

Monographs

  • None.

Books on Whistler

  • Cary, Elizabeth Luther, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist’s Works, New York, 1907 (cat. no. 475).
  • Enaud-Lechien, Isabelle, Whistler et la France, Le Musée Miniature, Paris, France: Editions Herscher, 1994, p. 36, repr. p. 37.
  • MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, p. 152.
  • Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, repr. p. 28.

Books, General

  • None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

EXHIBITION:

  • Principal Pictures from the Collection of Sir George Drummond, Barbizon House, London, 1919 (cat. no. 19), repr.
  • MacDonald, Margaret F., Notes, Harmonies, and Nocturnes: Small Works by James McNeill Whistler, M. Knoedler and Co., Inc., New York, 1984, repr. no. 25, p. 33.
  • Nochlin, Linda, Woman, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, ILL, 1984, p. 8, repr. no. 17, cover.
  • Selections from the Permanent Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, ILL, 1985.
  • Atkinson, D. Scott et al., A Proud Heritage: Two Centuries of American Art, edited by Terry A. Neff, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Terra Foundation for the Arts, 1987, p. 144, repr.
  • Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, July 1988.
  • An American Revelation: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1988.
  • Whistler and His Circle, Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1989.
  • Brooke, Janet M., Discerning Tastes: Montreal Collectors 1880–1920, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1989, pp. 166–67; pl. XVI, repr. p. 48 (cat. no. 61).
  • Von Rolf Bothe, Herausgegeben, Curt Hermann 1854–1929: Ein Maler Der Moderne In Berlin, Berlin Museum, 1989, pp. 147, 150, 152, repr. p. 150.
  • Gerdts, William H. et al., Impressions de toujours: les peintres américains en France, 1865–1915 (Lasting Impressions: American Painters in France, 1865–1915), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, Terra Foundation for the Arts, Chicago, 1992, pp. 37–38, fig. 25.
  • Regard sur James Abbott McNeill Whistler (James Abbott McNeill Whistler at a Glance), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, 1994.
  • Dorment, Richard, and Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1994-1995 (cat. no. 135), pp. 217–18, repr.
  • American Treasures: Chase, Whistler and the Prendergasts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1995-1997.
  • The Decorative Form: The Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts and the Asian Influence in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1999.
  • On Process: Studio Themes, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 2001.
  • Cartwright, Derrick R., L'Héroïque et le quotidian: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain, Giverny, Terra Foundation for the Arts, Chicago, 2001, p. 24 (checklist); repr. cover.
  • D'une colonie à une collection: le Musée d'Art Américain Giverny fête ses dix ans (From a Colony to a Collection: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Musée d'Art Américain Giverny), Musée d'Art Américain, Giverny, 2002.
  • Bourguignon, Katherine M., and Elizabeth Kennedy. An American Point of View: The Daniel J. Terra Collection, (Un regard transatlantique. La collection d'art américain de Daniel J. Terra), Terra Foundation for the Arts, Chicago, 2002, pp. 106, 206; repr. pp. 9, 107, 206.
  • A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 2002-2003.
  • Myers, Kenneth John, Mr. Whistler’s Gallery: Pictures at an 1884 Exhibition, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2003, pp. 7, 18, 21, 87-88, repr. pp. 72-73.
  • Modern Harmonies: Whistler Reflects on his Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 2003.
  • Studied Abroad: Painted Impressions from the Collection, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 2003- 2004.
  • Collection Cameo, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 2004.
  • Expanded Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2005-2007.
  • Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain; Giverny, France, 2007.
  • Lecomte, Vanessa, editor, Portrait of a Lady : peinture et photographies américains en France, 1870–1915 (Portrait of a Lady: American Paintings and Photographs in France, 1870–1915), Musée d'Art Américain; Giverny; and Musée des beaux-arts de Bordeaux; Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, 2008-2009, p. 95, repr. p. 44.
  • Galleries of American Art with Loans from the Terra Foundation for American Art Collection, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 2009-2013.
  • Bourguignon, Katherine M., American Impressionism: A New Vision 1880-1900, (Une nouvelle lumière: les américains face à l’impressionnisme/ Impresionismo Americano), Musée des Impressionnismes, Giverny; National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh; and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2014-2015 (English, French and Spanish versions) repr. p. 114.
  • Pathways to Modernism: American Art, 1865-1945, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2018-2019, pp. 54-55 (repr.).

SALES:

  • Drummond sale, Christie's, London, 27 June 1919 (lot 166) 'La Note Rouge'.

Journals 1906-Present

  • 'Tips from the Pros: Whistler's Veils of Paint', American Artist , vol. 48, April 1984, repr. p. 102.
  • Sokol, David M., 'The Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston, Illinois', The Magazine Antiques, vol. 126, no. 5, November 1984, pp. 1156-69, repr. pl. 23, p. 1165.
  • Southgate, M. Therese, 'The Cover', The Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 272, no. 1, 6 July 1994, p. 3, repr. cover.
  • Southgate, M. Therese, 'The Cover', The Journal of the American Medical Association France, vol. 6, no. 56, October 1994, p. 6, repr. cover.
  • Covington, Richard, 'Whistler in Retrospect', Art & Antiques, vol. 18, May 1995, pp. 90-96, repr. p. 92.
  • Dorment, Richard, 'James McNeill Whistler, 1834-1903', American Art Review, vol. 7, no. 3, June-July 1995, pp. 148-58, repr. p. 150.
  • Kennedy, Elizabeth, 'The Terra Museum of American Art,' American Art Review, December 2002, pp. 126-41, at p. 138, repr. p. 136.

Websites

  • Terra Foundation of American Art website at http://collection.terraamericanart.org.

Unpublished

  • Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 176).

Other

  • Note in Red: The Siesta, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Collection Cameo sheet, Terra Museum for American Art, Chicago, July 1988, repr.

Last updated: 2nd April 2021 by Margaret