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

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M.0717
Study for 'The Blue Girl: Portrait of Miss Elinor Leyland'

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1879
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number: 1921.124
Medium: pen and brown ink
Support: cream pseudo-laid paper, tipped onto cream wove paper
Size: 7 1/16 x 4 7/16" (180 x 113 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: 'Miss Eleanor (sic) Leyland. "Babs". original sketch for a picture never completed, and destroyed by Whistler in the early part of 1879.' written by C. A. Howell on support paper

Study for 'The Blue Girl: Portrait of Miss Elinor Leyland'

Provenance

  • ca 1879: acquired by Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890) , London, and placed in an album;
  • After 1884: the album was acquired by Cornelius Cox (1835-1889) and returned to Whistler.
  • 1890/1891: the drawing was signed by Whistler for Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) , New York dealer.
  • Date unknown: possibly with A. Rouillier, Chicago art dealer.
  • 1916: bequeathed by Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) to the Art Institute of Chicago.
  • 1921: accessioned by the Art Institute.

The drawing was placed in an album by Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890) , but it is not known if it was in the album when that was returned to Whistler, nor when and from whom it was acquired by Kennedy, or indeed, Rouillier. See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 717).

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Last updated: 10th December 2020 by Margaret