Provenance

• 1885/1886: given by Whistler to Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1860-1938) ;
• 1938: passed by family descent to the sitter, Dorothy Whistler Menpes (1884-1973) and family;
• ca 1955: sold through the Leicester Galleries to Michael Tree (dates unknown) , Kent.
• 1981: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 24 April 1981 (lot 151).
• By 2018: Gulf State Foundation Collection;
• 2019: art market, New York.

It was given by Whistler to Menpes either before or after the Winter Exhibition, Society of British Artists, London, 1885 (cat. no. 231).

The painting's recent history is unclear. It was thought to be in the Tuscaloosa Museum of Art (formerly the Westervelt-Warner Museum of Art), which closed in 2018. By the spring of 2019 it was on deposit temporarily at Christie's, New York.

Exhibitions

• 1885: Winter Exhibition, Society of British Artists, London, 1885 (cat. no. 231) as 'Note in Fleshcolour and grey; Portrait of Miss Dorothy Menpes'.