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

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M.1555
Butterfly beside the sea

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1899
Collection: Glasgow University Library
Accession Number: Whistler 292 f.7
Medium: pencil, pen and black ink
Support: cream wove paper, bound into volume of 'Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly'
Size: 7 11/16 x 4 11/16" (196 x 120 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: r.: 'top / red 3 1/4 to 1 3/8 /(2)' in unknown hands; v.: '4 inch / 4 inch / 6 inch / 64946' in unknown hands

Butterfly beside the sea

Composition

Butterfly beside the sea, Glasgow University Library
Butterfly beside the sea, Glasgow University Library
Butterfly beside the sea, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly, p. v, Glasgow University Library
Butterfly beside the sea, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly, p. v, Glasgow University Library

This was drawn for publication below the Dedication in Whistler 1899 (F)[more] .

Technique

It was drawn in pencil, pen and black ink. The reproduction in The Baronet and the Butterfly does not convey the gradations of the fine pen line.

Conservation History

The paper is dark cream, with slightly irregular edges at left and bottom, and is foxed. This is one of several drawings inset into sheets before being bound into a copy of the The Baronet and the Butterfly.

Last updated: 17th April 2019 by Margaret