Provenance

• Date unknown: acquired by the art dealer Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (1840-1892) , who departed hurriedly for the USA in 1889;
• 1889: sold by order of Thibadeau's trustees, at auction, Sotheby's, London, 9/13 December 1889 (lot 1140) as 'His own Portrait' and bought by Edmund F. Deprez (1851-1915) , London art dealer, for £20.0.0.
• By 1905: owned by John Postle Heseltine (1843-1929) , London.
• Date unknown: said to have the 'red collectors stamp of J. Pitt' (label on verso).
• Before 1925: owned by William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851-1925) ;
• 1926: sold at auction, Lord Leverhulme sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 4 March 1926 (lot 354, repr.).
• Before 1958: owned by the Hon. Alvan Tufts Fuller (1878-1958) and his wife Viola Theresa Davenport (d. 1959);
• 1961: sold by the Fuller Foundation Inc., at auction, Christie's, London, 1 December 1961 (lot 10) as 'Self-portrait' and bought by Julius H. Weitzner (1896-1986) , London art dealer, for 480 gns.
• Date unknown: according to Parke Bernet, owned at some time by Robert Owen Lehman (1891-1969), New York.
• By 1971: owned by Benjamin Sonnenberg (1901-1978);
• 1979: sold at auction, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 7 June 1979 (lot 681, repr.) as 'Self Portrait', bought by Robert M. Light (1929-2016) , New York art dealer;
• After 1979: sold by R. Light to Walter Klein, New York;
• 2020: auction, Christie's, London, 26 November 2020 (lot 72), as 'Portrait of the artist', unsold.

Labels, which may indicate owners and exhibitions, but are not all identifiable, include the following:

(1) Printed label from the Lord Leverhulme sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 4 March 1926 (lot 354) with added typescript, 'Purchased at Lord Leverhulme Sale / Anderson Galleries, New York, March 4, 1926.', and ms. note, 'The Drawing has red collectors stamp "J. Pitt.["] / on [illegible] / in Whistler by Cary, page 196, No 256 / See Paris Catalogue May 1905 / Page 67, No 123'.

(2) Printed label: 'JAMES McN. WHISTLER / 1834-1903. / 191 His own Portrait / Black chalk 7 x 5 ½ in. (18 by 14 cm.) / * Bought at Thibadeau's sale, 1890.', and in ms.: 'From the collection of J. P. Heseltine Esq.'

(3) Printed and typescript, 'MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS / WHISTLER - Self Portrait / T.L. 10,703 Fuller Foundations, / Inc.' ;

(4-6) Small labels, '4182 / J. McN. Whistler / by himself'; '4260 / x 681'; 'No. 70028 / PICTURE.'; as well as notes written and stencilled on the back board 'MF.T.L.10,703/ Fuller Foundation inc.', '594 MP' and numerals '354/ 103/ 342/ 647/ 189'.

Exhibitions

• 1905: 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. 113b) as 'Portrait of the Artist'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 123) as 'Portrait de Whistler'.