Butterfly was drawn in 1898. Whistler wrote to William Heinemann (1863-1920), 'One or two little Butterflies must for the moment be taken from Gentle Art as I have shown', and on 18 October 1898 he wrote to Heinemann from Paris 'Page 43. And here is a splendid Butterfly for "Damme Sir! Look at him rolling back with laughter.' 1

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1567).