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

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M.0454
r.: Study for 'Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs Louis Huth'; v.: Study for 'Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland'

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1872
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number: 1933.211
Medium: r: pastel; v: chalk and pastel
Support: brown wove paper
Size: 9 x 4 13/16" (228 x 122 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: v: '8 7/8 x 4/ R5307/ 101/2/ 32.211' in unknown hands

r.: Study for 'Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs Louis Huth'; v.: Study for 'Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland'

Provenance

  • Before 1925: possibly with Robert Dunthorne (1850-1925) , London art dealer.
  • 1925: possibly consigned by Edwin Thompson, Liverpool, to Christie's, London, 27 February 1925 (lot 101) as 'Lady in a black dress', bought by Brown and Phillips, London dealers.
  • 1927: possibly with David Croal Thomson (1855-1930) , London art dealer;
  • 1927: probably bought from Albert Louis Roullier (1858-1920) , Chicago art dealer, by Walter Stanton Brewster (1872-1954) ;
  • 1933: given to the Art Institute of Chicago.

There are some inconsistencies in the records. There is no proof that (as suggested in the 1995 catalogue) it was given to the sitter (or, one of the sitters). The history of the drawing before it was sold by Roullier is uncertain. Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 454).

Exhibitions

  • It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Last updated: 27th April 2021 by Margaret