The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0221
A Woman in a tall bonnet and a man in a top hat
Date
A Woman in a tall bonnet and a man in a top hat probably dates from 1857.
A Woman in a tall bonnet and a man in a top hat, Private Collection
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 220).
Images
A Woman in a tall bonnet and a man in a top hat, Private Collection
The image is small and poor quality; it does not enlarge satisfactorily.
Subject
Sitter
A Woman in a tall bonnet and a man in a top hat, Private Collection
Unidentified. The woman's dress suggests that it was drawn in rural France, or possibly Dieppe
Technique
Technique
A Woman in a tall bonnet and a man in a top hat, Private Collection
A quick sketch but with careful shading and some dark accents.
Conservation History
According to the owner, Whistler gave her some 'trivial sketches', which she put in an album he had brought from Paris, 'with my name in gold, stamped outside', possibly at Christmas 1858. 1 These may have been removed and framed later, because she lent 'A frame of ten early pencil sketches' to the Whistler Memorial exhibition in 1905 (cat. no. 207), and these were unmounted and dispersed at a later date
History
Provenance
- 1857/1858: given to Annie Harriet Haden (1848-1937);
- After 1905: several drawings owned by Annie Haden (Mrs Thynne), probably including this, were dispersed at an unknown date.
- Date unknown: according to Christie's, several drawings were bought in Paris by a collector, passed to his daughter, who lived in South America, came into the possession of a gallery in South America and were sold when it closed down.
- 1972: collection of Mrs M. Rossink, sold at auction, Christie's, London, 19 December 1972 (lot 89, repr.) bought by I. D. Gale, art dealer, and sold to a private collector.
Exhibitions
- 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. 207) as 'A frame of ten early pencil sketches.'
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 221) as 'A Woman in a tall bonnet and a man in a top hat'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- 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. 207) as 'A frame of ten early pencil sketches.'
Notes:
1: Mrs Thynne to Pennell, 20 February 1907, Library of Congress.