Provenance

• 1881: commissioned by Henry Bruce Meux (1857-1900) ;
• 1900: bequeathed to the sitter, Valerie Susan Meux (née Langdon) (1847-1910) ;
• 1910: after the death of Lady Meux on 20 December 1910, it passed to her heir, Sir Hedworth Lambton (1856-1929) , who assumed her name in 1911;
• 1929: at his death on 20 September 1929, bequeathed to his widow, Mildred C. H. Sturt, Viscountess Chelsea, Lady Lambton (1869-1942) , who married Lord Charles Montagu (d. 1939) in 1930;
• 1942: bequeathed to her grandson, Ian Gilmour (1926-2007) , Baron Gilmour of Craigmillar;
• 1960/1967: sold by Baron Gilmour to Hirschl & Adler, New York;
• 1967: bought from them by the Honolulu Academy of Arts with Acquisition Fund, funds from public solicitation, Memorial Fund, and Robert Allerton Fund.

It was commissioned in 1881 with two other portraits of Lady Meux (Harmony in Pink and Grey: Portrait of Lady Meux [YMSM 229] and Portrait of Lady Meux in Furs [YMSM 230]) by the sitter's husband, Henry Meux, for 1500 guineas, although Whistler later agreed to accept 1200 guineas for the three. 1 Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1855-1921) described, with some humour, how 'les Meux, au moment de payer leurs portraits, s'étant mis en route pour un voyage que leur peintre dénomme "La Fuite en Egypte" (freely translated: 'how the Meuxes, when the moment came to pay for their portraits, set off on a journey that their painter calls "The Flight into Egypt" '). 2

Exhibitions

• 1882: Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure et lithographie des artistes vivants, 100th exhibition, Salon de la Société des artistes français, Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris, 1882 (cat. no. 2687) as 'Portrait de M. Harry- Men' (sic).
• 1893: 3rd exhibition, Society of Portrait Painters, London, 1893 (cat. no. 46) as 'Lady Meux'.

Whistler wrote to Théodore Duret (1838-1927) in March 1882 when he sent the portrait to the Salon:

'Il est enfin parti mon "Arrangement en Noir. No. 5."! ['Ly Meux'] - et doit être rendu demain ou apres [sic] demain à la maison Goupil - Les Goupil vous savez ayant des representants ici, have taken all the trouble off my hands -

- d'abord j'ai eu le tort de le mal vernir la veille de son départ - and the varnish may have "bloomed" - you understand - so that the picture may have become covered with a sort of nasty thick blue veil - in which case it will want gently rubbing with a soft silk handkerchief - and afterwards when it is hung in the Salon, just before the opening it will want to be well varnished again -

Do ask Goupil to see to all this.' 3

Partial translation: 'My "Arrangement in Black. No. 5" has gone at last and should be delivered to Goupils tomorrow or the day after tomorrow - Goupils having representatives here as you know have taken all the trouble off my hands - So my dear Duret go right away and see what condition the picture is in - I fear that something may not be quite right - to begin with I made the mistake of varnishing it badly the day before it left.'

Whistler added that he would have liked to exhibit Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux at the Rue du Sèze in Paris at the same time as Harmony in Black and Red [YMSM 236], since the latter 'would appeal to the artists and explain or help the other.' 4

The artist also told George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909), on 28 January 1885, 'I have sent a great work to the Salon' – although he called it, misleadingly, 'Arrangement in black No. 5' – and he warned Lucas about the 'blooming', and asked him to instruct Goupil's to varnish the painting just before the opening of the exhibition. Likewise he expressed concerns about the state of the frame and canvas to Charles Ephrussi, adding 'je me permettrai de vous le recomander à votre sympathie et protection.' 5

At the Salon, it held the attention of the artist Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1834-1917), who described it in a letter to Henri Rouart on 2 May 1882 as: 'Un Whistler étonnant, raffiné à l'excès, mais d'une trempe!' 6 Octave Mirbeau (1848-1917), a strong supporter of Whistler and his work, also admired the portrait, describing it as 'une simple, belle et grande œuvre', having 'dans l’harmonie générale du tableau, une mélancolie grandiose, qui fait penser à la Marche funèbre de Chopin.' 7

It was the subject of a caricature in the Journal Amusant: 'Madame Harry-Men [sic] seule inventeur de la pommade Albinos, pour faire blanchir instantanément les cheveux', showing her fair hair flowing down to her feet, instead of the ermine of her cloak. 8

The Honolulu website comments:

'This portrait was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1882 to an enthusiastic reception. Although one contemporary critic likened this depiction of Mrs. Meux to Venus, Whistler sought to depict more than her physical presence, concentrating instead on manipulating mood through color to create a composition which he likened to musical orchestration.' 9

In 1884, Whistler, when requesting the loan of Harmony in Pink and Grey: Portrait of Lady Meux [YMSM 229] for the Société des XX Exposition internationale de peinture et de sculpture in Brussels, told the sitter that 'The one in black velvet, by the way, was, I may tell you, an immense success in Paris.' 10

Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) asserted that Arrangement in Black: Lady Meux was shown at the Society of British Artists and that it was seen by royalty:

'This picture, which may very well be described as the State portrait, was exhibited at Suffolk Street, but has not been shown publicly since, as Lady Meux would not permit it to be moved from the wall it hangs upon. It is a memorable picture, and one of his finest. When it was finished the Prince and Princess of Wales our late King and Queen visited Whistler's studio to see it ... and they ... expressed their admiration of the picture.' 11

This might suggest that it was shown some time between 1885 and 1887 in London but there is no record of this in the catalogues of the Society of British Artists.

In 1892 Francis Gerard Prange (b. ca 1843), describing Lady Meux as 'that refractory woman', had difficulty contacting or persuading her to lend the painting to the Grafton Galleries, but was eventually successful, and although the lighting in the gallery was much criticised, Prange told the artist that 'Your picture does look well.' 12 At the Society of Portrait Painters show in the following year it was obvious that the sitter, her dress, and the dramatic portrait held equal fascination for the newspapers. The Westminster Gazette on 17 February 1893 praised it as 'one of his most sumptuous portraits', and on the following day the Sporting Gazette commented that 'Mr. Whistler's Lady Meux is accorded a place of honour in the music-room, its murky tints throwing into strong relief Mr. Shannon's portrait', while the Morning Post described it lyrically as 'Mr. J. M'Neill Whistler's fine portrait of Lady Meux, in black, with a white mantle and with a silver bracelet gleaming on the wrist of her sable- gloved arm'.