Titles

There have been minor variations in the title:

• 'Portrait of Mr Freer' (1902, Whistler). 1
• 'Portrait of Charles L. Freer' (1980, YMSM). 2

'Portrait of Charles L. Freer' is the preferred title.

Description

A half-length portrait of a man in three-quarter view to right, looking at the viewer. He has greying hair, a short pointed beard and a moustache curled up at the ends. He wears a reddish brown jacket and poses against a dark khaki/green background. The portrait is in vertical format.

Sitter

Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) of Detroit was Whistler's major patron from the late 1880s until the artist's death. He formed the largest collection of Whistler's work in America, and bequeathed it to the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

Freer's rapport with Whistler comes over strongly in this vivid head with its sensitive and alert expression.