Artist: James McNeill Whistler Date: 1890 Collection: Art Institute of Chicago Accession Number: 33.293 Medium: graphite pencil Support: cream card Size: 9 7/16 x 8 1/8" (240 x 207 mm) Signature: butterflies Inscription: r.: 'WSB' (collector's mark of W. S. Brewster), v.: 'R1375t' in an unknown hand
Three butterflies remotely based on Whistler's monogram 'JW', with the addition of barbed tails. They were designed for Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, London, 1890.