Titles
Possible titles include:
- 'O'K' (1894, E. G. Kennedy). 1
- 'Portrait Study' (1895, National Academy of Design, New York). 2
- 'Portrait of Man' (1904, Copley Society, Boston). 3
- 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy, Esq.' (1905, ISSPG). 4
- Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2) (1980, YMSM). 5
It is numbered 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2)' because it was painted immediately after Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (1) [YMSM 403].
Description
Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
A small full-length portrait in vertical format, showing a man in a black jacket and waistcoat, a black cravat and high white collar, and grey trousers. He has thin dark hair and a moustache. He holds a hat in his right hand, and stands with his left foot forward, his left arm slightly bent, wearing a brown glove on his left hand, and holding a glove. A dark overcoat or cloak hangs from his shoulders, the revere sticking out slightly to left of his arm. The butterfly signature is at right, just below centre, and is now almost invisible.
Sitter
Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) . Kennedy thought it 'a "poor" portrait' and did not wish it to be exhibited in his lifetime. 6 H. S. Morris wrote that the portrait was 'very dark. We knew it as the black cat in a dark cellar, and often joked with Kennedy over it. But it was, after all, something to be painted by Whistler and to remain his friend, and Kennedy's handsome figure deserved the compliment.' 7
G. Boldini, E. G. Kennedy, Metropolitan Museum of Art
W. M. Chase, E. G. Kennedy, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Two portraits of Kennedy dating from the 1890s are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: an oil by William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) (1973.342) and a drawing by Giovanni Boldini (1845-1931) (33.40.62).
Notes:
1: Kennedy to Whistler, 20 May 1894, GUW #07233.
2: Loan Exhibition of Portraits for the Benefit of St. John's Guild and the Orthopædic Hospital, National Academy of Design, New York, 1895 (cat. no. 329).
3: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 80).
4: 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. 83).
5: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 404).
6: Letters to H. W. Kent, [1909] and 7 November 1910, Museum archives. See also biography of E. G. Kennedy in Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2012, website at https://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/biog/?nid=KennEG.
Last updated: 4th December 2020 by Margaret
