The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Woman at a mirror (Gracie's Album, p. 35) dates from between 1851 and 1852 and was drawn in the album of a fellow cadet at West Point, Archibald Gracie jr (1832-1864).

Woman at a mirror , Gracie's Album, p. 35, Freer Gallery of Art

The drawing is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 79).

Images

Subject

Description

Woman at a mirror , Gracie's Album, p. 35, Freer Gallery of Art

A young woman stands behind a table looking in an oval mirror to left. She is arranging her hair, which falls in ringlets over her shoulders.

Technique

Technique

Woman at a mirror , Gracie's Album, p. 35, Freer Gallery of Art

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 79).

History

Provenance

• 1851/1852: drawn for Archibald Gracie jr (1832-1864);
• 1864: bequeathed to his widow, Josephine Gracie née Mayo (1836-1901);
• 1901: bequeathed to their daughter Adeline Gracie (1864-1948), Baltimore, MD;
• 1907: with David Bendann, art dealer, Baltimore, 10 January 1907;
• 1908: bought on 3 February by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919);
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Archibald Gracie jr was a West Point graduate who became a Confederate brigadier general and died at the siege of Petersburg during the American civil war.

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 79).

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime. By the terms of Freer's will, it cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 79) as 'Woman at a mirror (Gracie's Album, p. 35)'.