The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0216
Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson
Date
Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson dates from 1856.
It was described by the Hartford Daily Courant, 26 July 1879, as 'a portrait of an American medical student who, like Whistler, occupied apartments in the once famous "Latin quarter" ', and as having been 'painted by Whistler while a student at Paris'.
Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson, Private collection
It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 216). This record has been amended.
Images
Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson, Private collection
Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson, Private collection
Subject
Titles
The title 'Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson' comes from family tradition, as passed down to later owners.
Sitter
Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson, Private collection
Henry ("Harry") Hudson appears to have been about the same age as Whistler, so a birth date of 1830/1835 is possible.
The sitter was described by the Hartford Daily Courant, 26 July 1879, as 'an American medical student who, like Whistler, occupied apartments in the once famous "Latin quarter" ', and as having been 'painted by Whistler while a student at Paris'.
It is likely that he was related to Annie Jane Hudson (1834-1907), wife of Frederick William Russell (1831–1895) of Chatham, Middlesex County, Connecticut. See HISTORY / PROVENANCE tag.
Technique
Technique
Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson, Private collection
See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 216).
History
Provenance
- 1856: presumably acquired by the sitter, Henry Hudson.
- 1879: said to have been owned by a 'gentleman' in Hartford, CT.
- Date unknown: said to have owned by a relative of Henry Hudson, Miss Francis Storrs, CT;
- Date unknown: said to have been given by Miss Francis Storrs to her cousin Mary Wilcox Russell (1872-1933), Hartford County, CT, who married John Davenport Cheney (1870-1919) in 1905;
- 1933?: passed to her daughter Jane Davenport Cheney (1906-1989), wife of Benjamin McLane Spock MD (1903-1998);
- Date unknown: sold to a private collector.
Henry Hudson was a common name but the only one in Hartford, Connecticut, that has been identified was a barber born about 1827 who is recorded in Massachusetts, not Paris, in 1856. 1 No links to the other people mentioned above have been established and he is very unlikely to have been Whistler's sitter.
Francis Storrs has not been identified.
Frederick William Russell (1831–1895) of Chatham, Middlesex County, CT, and his wife Anna ('Annie') Jane Hudson (1834-1907) had several children, one of whom was named Harry Hudson Russell, and may have been named after the subject of Whistler's portrait. Sadly Harry Hudson Russell died shortly after birth in 1856.
By 1900 the widowed Anna Russell was living with her surviving children, Frederick Grenville Russell (1859-1902) and Mary Wilcox Russell (1873-1933) in Hartford, CT. Five years later Mary married John Davenport Cheney (1870-1919). It was their daughter Jane who eventually acquired the watercolour.
The aforementioned Anna Jane Hudson was the daughter of William Hudson (1797-1879) and Anna Miller (1796-1844), whose other children were Dr William Miller Hudson (1833-1901) and Mary Regina Hudson (1839-1860). This is a little tantalising, since it shows there was a doctor of near Whistler's age in the family.
Exhibitions
- 1879: on show in A. D. Vorce & Co., 207 Main Street, Hartford, CT.
According to the Hartford Daily Courant, 26 July 1879:
'There has just been placed on exhibition at Vorce's an exceedingly rare and interesting picture. It is a head in water color by the famous Whistler of London … painted by Whistler while a student at Paris, ... is a portrait of an American medical student who, like Whistler, occupied apartments in the once famous "Latin quarter". The picture is the property of a gentleman of this city and is probably the only specimen of Whistler's work in the state. It will be on exhibition for a few days and lovers of art should not fail to examine it.' 2
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 216) as 'Portrait of Dr Henry Hudson'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- 1879: on show in A. D. Vorce & Co., 207 Main Street, Hartford, CT.
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Whistler', Hartford Daily Courant, CT, 26 July 1879.
Notes:
1: On 15 January 1856, 29-year-old 'Henry B. S. Hudson', a hair dresser resident in Randolph, MA, married the Irish-born 28-year-old 'Mary E. Hefferman' (née Newill) of Quincy, MA. In the 1870 United States Federal Census 'Hudson, Henry BS', aged 43, a barber, lived in Enfield, Hartford, CT, with 40 year old Ann Hudson and 14 year old Fanny. It is conceivable that he was a Barber-Surgeon, that is, a man with some medical qualifications, though not a physician, but this is an unlikely scenario.
2: Press-cutting stuck in Whistler's press-cutting album, GUL Whistler PC1, p. 23.