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

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M.1265
Butterfly

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1890/1892
Collection: Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Accession Number: 2006685422
Medium: pen and black ink
Support: off-white card, with printed butterfly on small rectangle of paper, 18 x 25 mm (11/16 x 1"), cut from book (Whistler 1890) stuck to it
Size: 5 1/2-5 5/8 x 5 1/4-5 3/8" (140-143 x 133-136 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: 'Top/ Page 320./ size. /No. [5, crossed out] 4.' and 'No. 5 -'

Butterfly

Composition

Butterfly, Library Of Congress
Butterfly, Library Of Congress

A design for Whistler 1892 [more] . The butterfly was reduced for publication in 1892 to the width of the one on the accompanying proof, from p. 69 in the 1890 edition, but is smaller in height. There is no butterfly on p. 320 of the 1892 catlogue.

It was printed at the end of the catalogue entries and their accompanying presscuttings in the catalogue of Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892, as reprinted in the Gentle Art: it came before the 'Résumé', taken from the Advertiser, 'It is impossible to take Mr.Whistler seriously.'

Last updated: 19th March 2021 by Margaret