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

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M.1556
r.: Butterfly and tricolour flag; v.: Two butterflies and part of a third

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1899
Collection: Glasgow University Library
Accession Number: MS Whistler 292 ff. 47-8
Medium: pencil, pen and black ink
Support: cream wove paper, bound into volume
Size: 5 1/2 x 7 7/8" (140 x 201 mm)
Signature: butterflies
Inscription: r.: 'Argument - / Try this one too', and in unknown hands 'top / (3) / make with other'; v.: '64899 / 16 ½ x 14' in unknown hands

r.: Butterfly and tricolour flag; v.: Two butterflies and part of a third

Composition

r.: Butterfly and tricolour flag, Glasgow University Library
r.: Butterfly and tricolour flag, Glasgow University Library
Butterfly and tricolour flag in Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly, p. viii, Glasgow University Library
Butterfly and tricolour flag in Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly, p. viii, Glasgow University Library

This was one of several versions of the butterfly with a tricolour flag, drawn for publication in Whistler 1899 (F)[more] . It was not published in this form, but, with the addition of a tail, as in Butterfly and tricolour flag [M.1560].

Technique

r.: Butterfly and tricolour flag, Glasgow University Library
r.: Butterfly and tricolour flag, Glasgow University Library
v.: Two butterflies and part of a third, Glasgow University Library
v.: Two butterflies and part of a third, Glasgow University Library

The verso shows two butterflies with long tails that have been crossed out and were not used.

Conservation History

r.: Butterfly; v.: Butterflies [M.1552] and r.: Butterfly and tricolour flag; v.: Two butterflies and part of a third [M.1556] are halves of the same sheet of paper, with half of one one crossed out butterfly on each.

Last updated: 9th April 2019 by Margaret