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

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YMSM 245
Portrait of M. R. Elden (3)

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1882/1884
Collection: Private Collection
Accession Number: none
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 29.2 x 22.2 cm (11 1/2 x 8 3/4")
Signature: unknown
Inscription: unknown

Portrait of M. R. Elden (3)

Portrait of M. R. Elden (3) probably dates from between 1882 and 1884. 1

1882: Whistler is known to have been working on a full-length of Matthew Robinson Elden (1839-1885) in 1882, Portrait of H. R. Eldon (1) [YMSM 243], but this has not been located.

Portrait of M. R. Elden (3), Private collection
Portrait of M. R. Elden (3), Private collection

1883: According to the artist Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942), he saw Whistler at work on a portrait of Elden. 2 Sickert dated it about 1883, and a date of 1883 or 1884 is reasonable, given the deterioration in Elden's mental health before his death in 1885.

Notes:

1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 245).

2: Sickert, Walter, 'Where Paul and I differ', Art News, no. 14, 10 February 1910, p. 113.

Last updated: 8th November 2019 by Margaret