The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0031
Head of a Boy
Date
Head of a Boy was drawn at Christ Church School, Pomfret, CT, between 1849 and 1851.
It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 31). This entry and title have been revised.
Images
Head of a Boy, Rhode Island School of Design
Subject
Description
The head of a chubby child, in three-quarter view to left. He has short hair. He is lit from the right.
Sitter
Unknown.
Technique
Technique
Drawn probably with a quill pen on smooth medium weight wove rag paper.
Conservation History
The paper is beige, probably browned.
History
Provenance
- 1849/1851: given to Whistler's schoolmate Edward Lawrence Hyde (1835-1917), in Pomfret, CT;
- 1917: bequeathed to his wife Imogine Adell Hyde née Clarke (b. 1847);
- By 1924: according to her niece, Mary E. Hyde, Boston, given to her sister in California;
- 1936: owned by her sisters Laura, Bessie and Lillian Hyde in California, and passed by family descent to Silvia Hyde Rhodes, then to Imogene Hyde Alexieff (1907-1995), Mrs Theodore Stephen Alexieff; and to her son Stephen Theodore Alexieff (b. 1932);
- 1994: gift of Steven P. Alexeiff in honour of Professor and Mrs Albert Simonson to Rhode Island School of Design.
Photostats of drawings owned by Edward L. Hyde were sent to Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) in 1924 but have not been located.
Exhibitions
It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 31) as 'Head'.
Journals 1906-Present
- Pressly, Nancy D., 'Whistler in America: An Album of Early Drawings', Metropolitan Museum Journal, New York, vol. 5, 1972, pp. 125-54 (no. 11b).
Websites
- RISD website at https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection, as 'Head of a Boy'.