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

 

YMSM 501
La Toison rouge

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1896/1900
Collection: The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
Accession Number: GLAHA 46328
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 50.7 x 31.0 cm (20 1/4 x 12 1/4")
Signature: none
Inscription: none

La Toison rouge

Titles

Only one title is known with one tiny variation:

  • 'La Toison rouge' (1904, Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Paris). 1
  • 'La Toison Rouge' (1936, University of Glasgow). 2
  • 'La Toison rouge' (1980, YMSM). 3

The title of this painting, 'La Toison rouge', can be translated as 'The Red Fleece', a reference to the model's hair.

Description

La Toison rouge, The Hunterian
La Toison rouge, The Hunterian

A half-length portrait of a girl, in vertical format. She has auburn shoulder-length hair, and is wearing a dark grey or black dress. She is in slight three-quarter view to left, facing the viewer, and her left hand is raised towards her right shoulder, grasping her hair. The background is dark green.

Sitter

Unknown.

Notes:

1: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 44).

2: James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1936 (cat. no. 35).

3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 501).

Last updated: 22nd October 2020 by Margaret