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

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The Violinist

Titles

Minor variations on the title include:

  • 'lute player' (1903, C. L. Freer). 1
  • 'Die Violinspielerin' (1903, Entwicklung des Impressionismus in Malerei und Plastik, Vienna). 2
  • 'The Violinist' (1905, ISSPG). 3
  • 'The Violin Player' (1943, Cleveland Museum of Art). 4
  • 'The Violinist' (1980, YMSM). 5

'The Violinist' is the preferred title.

Description


                    The Violinist, Cleveland Museum of Art
The Violinist, Cleveland Museum of Art

A half-length portrait of a young woman seated, facing the viewer. She wears an evening dress in grey and pink, with a deep v-neck, and holds a violin under her right arm. She is lit from the left, and set against a dark brown background. The canvas is in vertical format.

Sitter

Unknown. She has a certain resemblance to a later model, Muriel Smith (fl. 1880-1910).

Comments

The most famous of Whistler's musical subjects is the portrait of the violinist, Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate [YMSM 315].

Notes:

1: n.d., Freer Diaries, Bk 13, Freer Gallery Archives.

2: Exhibition catalogue Vienna 1903 [more] (cat. no. 90). Translation, 'The violinist'.

3: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 34).

4: Francis 1943 [more] .

5: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 422).

Last updated: 16th October 2020 by Margaret