The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Sam Weller's Landlord in the Fleet dates from 1853/1855. It is one of several illustrations to The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens (1812-1870). It may have been drawn at USMA, West Point, or after Whistler left in June 1854, and worked in Washington, DC. It was probably given by Whistler to his brother William McNeill Whistler (1836-1900).

Sam Weller's Landlord in the Fleet, Freer Gallery of Art

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 145).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Sam Weller's Landlord in the Fleet, Freer Gallery of Art

The 'landlord', a cobbler, is shown enjoying an evening in the Fleet Prison in London. This is one of several illustrations to The Pickwick Papers (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) by Charles Dickens (1812-1870), which was first published in monthly parts from April 1836-November 1837 and in book form in 1837. Whistler had read the edition in the USMA library, West Point.

Technique

Technique

Sam Weller's Landlord in the Fleet, Freer Gallery of Art

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 145).

History

Provenance

• 1853/1855: probably given to Whistler's brother William McNeill Whistler (1836-1900);
• 1900: bequeathed to his wife, Helen ('Nellie') Euphrosyne Whistler (1849-1917);
• 1905: offered through Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), who bought it on 29 November;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 145).

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. 88) as 'Sam Weller's Landlord in the Fleet'.
• 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. 155) as 'Sam Weller's Lodging in the Fleet Prison'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 145) as 'Sam Weller's Landlord in the Fleet'.

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. 88) as 'Sam Weller's Landlord in the Fleet'.
• 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. 155) as 'Sam Weller's Lodging in the Fleet Prison'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 166, pl. 77.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1905.332a-b.