The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0028
A Fire at Pomfret: School House on Fire; v.: Frame for a map
Date
r.: A Fire at Pomfret: School House on Fire; v.: Frame for a map dates from between 1849 and 1851.
r.: A Fire at Pomfret: School House on Fire, Freer Gallery of Art
It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 28).
Images
r.: A Fire at Pomfret: School House on Fire, Freer Gallery of Art
v.: Frame for a map, not reproduced.
Subject
Site
r.: A Fire at Pomfret: School House on Fire, Freer Gallery of Art
Christ Church School, Pomfret, Connecticut.
Technique
Technique
See details in Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.
Conservation History
The paper has darkened to a pale brown.
History
Provenance
- Date unknown: probably given to Whistler's brother William McNeill Whistler (1836-1900);
- 1900: bequeathed to his wife Helen ('Nellie') Euphrosyne Whistler (1849-1917);
- 1905: offered by Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) on behalf of Helen Whistler to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) on 27 October;
- 1905: Freer bought this and two other drawings for £60.0.0 on 29 November;
- 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.
The letters regarding Freer's purchase are in the Freer Gallery Archives.
Exhibitions
- 1903: Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 87) as 'The School on Fire';
- 1905: 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. 154) as 'School House on Fire'.
In his catalogue, William Stephen Marchant (1868-1925) described the scene depicted: 'While Mr Whistler was at School in Pomfret, U.S.A., a fire occurred, and the boys helped to put it out. Mr Whistler illustrated this incident shortly afterwards in the present drawing.'
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 28) as r.: A Fire at Pomfret: School House on Fire; v.: Frame for a map.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 87) as 'The School on Fire'.
- 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. 154) as 'School House on Fire'.
Books on Whistler
- Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobson, Blythe McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor: Lovely Little Games, New Haven and London, 2019.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984.
Websites
- Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1905.333a-b, as 'A Fire at Pomfret'.
- Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.