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

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Alice Butt (2)

Composition


                    Alice Butt (2), National Gallery of Art
Alice Butt (2), National Gallery of Art

                    Alice Butt, private collection
Alice Butt, private collection

Two portraits of Alice Butt are closely related but it is not possible to tell if one is a study for the other.

Technique

According to Whistler, 'The little head, stolen ... [was] very much repainted - !!!' 1

It is painted on a grey base, the blouse is grey as in Alice Butt (1) [YMSM 437] and the rest of the picture is in a range of browns, lighter in tone than Alice Butt (1) [YMSM 437]. The background is painted with a broader brush than in Alice Butt (1) [YMSM 437] (18 mm, 3"), and with long, scrubby strokes. The painting throughout is freer and more fluid, and the model's expression is more sultry than in Alice Butt (1) [YMSM 437].

Conservation History


                    Alice Butt (2), photograph, 1900?
Alice Butt (2), photograph, 1900?

                    Alice Butt (2), photograph,1980
Alice Butt (2), photograph,1980

                    Alice Butt (2), National Gallery of Art
Alice Butt (2), National Gallery of Art

In his letter to Cowan of 2 July 1901, cited above, Whistler identified the sitter as Alice Butt, in the larger of the two portrait heads owned by Cowan (see Alice Butt (1) [YMSM 437] and Study of a Girl's Head [YMSM 487]). Cowan wrote on 5 July 1901 that he was 'not surprised to hear [this portrait] has been repainted' and mentioned that a 'duplicate of my one' was with Reid in November 1900 (see Alice Butt (1) [YMSM 437]). If there was indeed any over-painting it has apparently been removed.

Frame

Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston 1904, photograph, GUL Whistler PH6/26
Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston 1904, photograph, GUL Whistler PH6/26

Grau-style frame, made in America, dating from 1903; the photograph above shows it in 1904. 2 Size framed: 86.4 x 73 x 8.9 cm (34 x 28 3/4 x 3 1/2").

Notes:

1: 2-4 July [1901], GUW #00746.

2: Dr S. L. Parkerson Day, Report on frames, 2017; see also Parkerson 2007 [more] .

Last updated: 23rd March 2021 by Margaret