The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0032
The smuggler's cave
Date
The Smuggler's Cave, drawn at Christ Church School, Pomfret, CT, between 1849 and 1851, was given to Whistler's schoolmate Edward Lawrence Hyde (1835-1917).
It is listed in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 32). This entry has been revised.
Images
The Smuggler's Cave, Rhode Island School of Design
Subject
Description
Four men, one seated facing front, holding a pistol. one sitting on the ground in the foreground to right, and two standing behind him, holding muskets. At front left, a barrel lies on the ground. A cave entrance is roughly indicated at the top.
Technique
Technique
A very rough sketch in pen on grey, with light areas scraped out.
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. 32) as 'The smuggler's cave'.
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. 11f).
Websites
- RISD website at https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection, as 'Smuggler's Cave'.