The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0249
La Courtisane des Étudiants, Heidelberg
Date
La Courtisane des Étudiants, Heidelberg dates from between September and October 1858, and was given to Whistler's niece, Annie Harriet Haden (1848-1937).
La Courtisane des Étudiants, Heidelberg, photograph, Pennell Collection, Library of Congress
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 249).
Images
La Courtisane des Étudiants, Heidelberg, photograph, Pennell Collection, Library of Congress
Subject
Site
The German town of Heidelberg, situated by the River Neckar, is the site of an ancient and famous University.
Sitter
La Courtisane des Étudiants, Heidelberg, photograph, Pennell Collection, Library of Congress
The word courtesan suggests that the woman is a prostitute with wealthy clients, not usually students. The young woman appears well but not over-dressed, and perfectly respectable except that the young man has his arm round her. She may have been a girl-friend, barmaid or other maid-servant, or indeed, as the inscription suggests, a prostitute. It was an odd drawing for Whistler to give to his young niece, or indeed, any of the Hadens.
Technique
Technique
La Courtisane des Étudiants, Heidelberg, photograph, Pennell Collection, Library of Congress
A summary pencil sketch, possibly taken from a sketchbook.
Conservation History
According to Annie Harriet Haden (1848-1937), 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
- 1858: given to Annie Harriet Haden (1848-1937) (later Mrs Thynne);
- After 1905: ten early pencil sketches, framed and exhibited in 1905, were later unmounted and dispersed.
Exhibitions
- 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. 249) as 'La Courtisane des Étudiants, Heidelberg'.
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