Grenat et or: Le Petit Cardinal dates from between 1900 and 1901.
An 'unfinished painting of a young girl or youth in a red cap, which we greatly admired' was seen in Whistler's London studio by Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) in the summer of 1900, and in 1902 by Mr and Mrs Frank Lusk Babbott (1854-1933), after which Mansfield offered to buy it. 1
Grenat et or: Le Petit Cardinal, The Hunterian
The model, Lilian ('Lily') Pamington (b. 1887/1888), was posing for Whistler, possibly for this painting, in October 1900 and November 1901. 2
It was first exhibited in the Douzième Exposition, Ouvrages de Peintures, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, Architecture et Objets d'Art, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Grand Palais, Paris, 1902 (cat. no. 1195) as 'Grenat et or: Le petit cardinal'.
Notes:
1: Mansfield to Whistler, 3 November 1902, GUW #04013.
2: Whistler to Mrs Burkitt, [30 October 1900], GUW #11207, writing, 'if Eva and little Lillie turn up, kindly let them stay down in the warm kitchen until they can be seen by Miss Philip'; R. Birnie Philip to Whistler, 3 November 1901, GUW #04822, referring to a 'new frock'.
Last updated: 23rd November 2020 by Margaret
