Composition
Although the portrait has not survived, W. G. Robertson's description suggests links with extant portraits.
Miss Rosalind Birnie Philip Standing, The Hunterian
Whistler painted several portraits of Rosalind Birnie Philip. It is possible that Miss Rosalind Birnie Philip Standing [YMSM 479], which shows her beside a table, was a study for the missing full-length.
No surviving portrait of Miss Birnie Philip in black is the size of Arrangement in Brown and Black: Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder [YMSM 203], which Robertson owned, 192.4 x 92.4 cm (75 ¾ x 36 3/8") and which he compared to the missing portrait.
Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian
Whistler did paint a large – 187.2 x 89.7 cm (73 3/4 x 35 1/4") – full-length, Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip [YMSM 419], about this date, though the surroundings described by Robertson are not present in the portrait in its completed state.
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
Last updated: 29th October 2019 by Margaret
