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

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M.1260
A butterfly in the clouds

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1890
Collection: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Accession Number: F1904.90
Medium: black chalk and white paint
Support: off-white wove paper
Size: 9 13/16-10 1/16 x 9-9 1/16" (250-255 x 229-231 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: '[3/4w]' in an unknown hand.

A butterfly in the clouds

Composition

A butterfly in the clouds, Freer Gallery of Art
A butterfly in the clouds, Freer Gallery of Art

Designed for Whistler 1890 [more] . The first edition of The Gentle Art of Making Enemies ends 'affection & faith'- (Envoi) on p. 286, and the butterfly flying over clouds (slightly tidied up for publication) appeared as 'FINIS' on p. 287 (which was not paginated). This butterfly was moved to p. 335 in the 2nd edition, Whistler 1892 [more] .

Last updated: 19th March 2021 by Margaret