The Three Girls dates from between 1887 and 1892. The faint butterfly at left suggests a date of about 1887.

The subject closely resembles a composition known as the The Three Girls [YMSM 088] that was commissioned by Frederick Richards Leyland (1832-1892) in 1867. Whistler was still working on it in 1879, but it is unlikely that this sketch dates from that early.

An oil study for The Three Girls, known as The White Symphony: Three Girls [YMSM 087], was owned by Thomas Way (1837-1915), and it was exhibited at the Society of British Artists in the winter of 1887-1888 (cat. no. 352). It is possible that Whistler painted the small sketch at this point, but there are important differences in the composition.

The original Three Girls disappeared at the time of Whistler's bankruptcy, but in 1879 he painted an oil copy, Pink and Grey: Three Figures [YMSM 089]. In 1891 this came on the London market and Whistler publicly described it as 'a work long ago barely begun, and thrown aside for destruction …' (Morning Post, 27 July 1891). The composition of the small sketch is slightly more like Pink and Grey: Three Figure and may have been inspired by it.

In November 1892 the Gardners bought Harmony in Blue and Silver: Trouville [YMSM 064]. It is possible that Whistler drew the small sketch to warn the Gardners against buying the copy, and/or to give them an idea of the original painting.

The sketch is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1163). The record has been updated.