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Composition
r.: Butterfly, Art Institute of Chicago
This was drawn for publication in James McNeill Whistler, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict, Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899, p. 6. The butterfly, much reduced in size, was reproduced to mark a marginal note by Whistler on Beurdeley's presentation of the case at the Court of Appeal in Paris in December 1897.
Technique
It was originally smaller, with shorter wings, curved in more at the top and back.
The drawing on the verso was torn across (the left part of the front drawing, and the top half of the back drawing, are missing). The butterfly on the verso is sideways to the recto. It is comparatively realistic, with shaded wings and leg shaped legs. There are grey blotches round it where corrections have been made, and sticking paper.
Conservation History
The thin, greying, card has rough edges on three sides (not on the right), and pinholes at the corners and in the centre of the left and right edges.
Last updated: 11th December 2020 by Margaret
