The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0082
Two lovers and an old woman (Gracie's Album, p. 109)
Date
Two lovers and an old woman (Gracie's Album, p. 109) dates from between 1851 and 1852. Archibald Gracie jr (1832-1864) was a fellow cadet at West Point.
Two lovers and an old woman, Gracie's Album, p. 109, Freer Gallery of Art
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 82).
Images
Two lovers and an old woman, Gracie's Album, p. 109, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Description
Two lovers and an old woman, Gracie's Album, p. 109, Freer Gallery of Art
An interior, lit by a candle: two lovers in vaguely Elizabethan dress whisper together at right, while the chaperone sleeps in a high-back chair at left.
Technique
Technique
Two lovers and an old woman, Gracie's Album, p. 109, Freer Gallery of Art
See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 82).
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. 82) as 'Two lovers and an old woman (Gracie's Album, p. 109)'.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 208, pl. 144.
Websites
- Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1908.10e as 'Two Lovers and an Old Woman'.