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

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M.1570
r.: Butterfly; v.: Chequered butterfly

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1899
Collection: Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Accession Number: 2006678407
Medium: pencil, pen, dark brown ink and white paint
Support: dark cream wove card
Size: 6 1/4 x 4 3/4" (158 x 120 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: r.: 'Size across - outside measure -/ Page 43 / Reflection :- / P / width of Body', and '2-H-S-116' in unknown hands; v.: in unknown hands, 'Heinemann / Special Thurs 4 00 / 38843 / 8-89-806.30'

r.: Butterfly; v.: Chequered butterfly

r.: Butterfly; v.: Chequered butterfly were drawn in 1899 as illustrations for Whistler 1899 (F)[more] .

r.: Butterfly; v.: Chequered butterfly, Library of Congress
r.: Butterfly; v.: Chequered butterfly, Library of Congress
v.: Chequered butterfly, Library of Congress
v.: Chequered butterfly, Library of Congress

The chequered wings were a symbol of Whistler's mourning for his late wife Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896).

The sheet is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1570).

Last updated: 8th April 2019 by Margaret