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

Home  > Catalogue > People > David A. Kennedy (related works) > Catalogue entry

M.1521
Nude tending a pot of flowers

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1898
Collection: Private Collection
Accession Number: none
Medium: pencil
Support: white laid paper, partial watermark '...N FI.../...LITY' with William Heinemann's yellow embossed monogram 'WH' and heading, '4 Whitehall Court/ S.W.'
Size: 5 15/16 x 7 11/16" (151 x 195 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: v.: '?' in the hand of E. G. Kennedy

Nude tending a pot of flowers

Composition

Nude tending a pot of flowers, Private Collection
Nude tending a pot of flowers, Private Collection
The White Symphony: Three Girls, Freer Gallery of Art
The White Symphony: Three Girls, Freer Gallery of Art
Rose et argent: Fleurs de printemps, The Hunterian
Rose et argent: Fleurs de printemps, The Hunterian
Spring, Terra Foundation for American Art
Spring, Terra Foundation for American Art

The recurring theme of a crouching or bending figure tending flowers dates back to the 1860s, in The White Symphony: Three Girls [YMSM 087] and The Three Girls [YMSM 088]. However it recurs frequently in Whistler's work; see, for instance A crouching nude tending a flowering plant [M.1389], Rose et argent: Fleurs de printemps [M.1391], and Spring [M.1397].

Technique

Nude tending a pot of flowers, Private Collection
Nude tending a pot of flowers, Private Collection

The figures and pot stand are drawn with multiple outlines.

Conservation History

The drawings must have been done with the paper folded, since they are not the same way up, the one on right was drawn with the paper at right angles to the first (moved anti-clockwise). The fold and edges are soiled.

Last updated: 6th March 2021 by Margaret