Titles

There are several variations on the original title:

• 'Blue and Coral – The Little Blue Bonnet' (1898, ISSPG). 1
• 'Devochka b golubom' [girl in blue] (1899, 1st World of Art Exhibition, St Petersburg). 2
• 'The Little Blue Bonnet' and 'The Little Blue Bonnet, Blue and Coral' (1905, ISSPG). 3
• 'The Little Blue Bonnet' (1913, Armory Show, New York). 4
• 'The Blue Bonnet' (1940, New York World's Fair). 5
• 'Blue and Coral: The Little Blue Bonnet' (1980, YMSM). 6

'Blue and Coral: The Little Blue Bonnet' is based on the original title, with punctuation amended to conform with other titles.

Description

A half-length portrait of a young woman, in oval format. Her face looks directly at the viewer but her body is turned slightly to her right. Her thick light brown hair falls in a rough fringe over her forehead. She has dark brown eyes, an oval face, and a small mouth.

The structure of her dress is not clear. She seems to have a white dress or blouse (touched with pale blue and grey tones) with a grey ruff at her neck. Over this she wears what may be a tunic or surcoat in white with a dark blue trim, possibly laced at the front. There are dark blue puffs indicated at her shoulders, and white sleeves below.

Her pale blue hat has a high crown and small brim with dark greenish-blue feathers or ribbons. The background is a brownish-grey, with an orange butterfly signature at left. Only the head and hat are fully painted: the dark outlines of the original drawing are visible on her clothes.

Sitter

The sitter was Muriel Smith (1883-1923) , who posed for several portraits when she was an art student, before her marriage. 7

According to a newspaper report after her death,

'As a girl she was a great friend and a pupil of Whistler, who always evinced the greatest interest in her and her work. So much so that at various times he painted five portraits of her. One of these is in the possession of Mr. Heinemann, one is owned by Mr. Van der Bilt [sic], and one is in the Luxembourg. Two of these are reproduced in Pennell's life of Whistler, the one entitled "Girl with a Feather", and the other "Blue and Coral".' 8

Violet and Blue: The Red Feather [YMSM 503] is the 'Girl with a Feather' cited in this article. Grey and Silver: La Petite Souris [YMSM 502] is almost certainly another (unfinished) portrait of Muriel Smith. It is not certain what portrait was supposedly owned by George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914), because The Little London Sparrow [YMSM 477] shows a younger child, supposedly Elizabeth Willis (fl. 1890/1900).