The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

'Adieu mes enfants! il est l'heure' probably dates from October 1858.

'Adieu mes enfants! il est l'heure', Freer Gallery of Art

The drawing is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 280).

Images

Subject

Site

'Adieu mes enfants! il est l'heure', Freer Gallery of Art

Possibly drawn in Cologne in Germany, where Whistler and his companion waited for a money draft to see them through their return journey.

Sitter

Unknown. It could have been the daughter of the landlord, Herr Schmitz, who had a personal interest in whether Whistler received some money to pay for his board and lodging, to which end he visited the post office daily.

Technique

Conservation History

The sheet was probably taken from a sketchbook. Over fifty drawings, many in sketchbooks, most of which dated from 1857-1858, were apparently given to Whistler's half-sister Deborah and/or her husband, Francis Seymour Haden, and were later removed from the sketchbooks.

History

Provenance

• 1858: probably given to Deborah Delano Haden (1825-1908) or her husband Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910);
• 1898: sold through Wunderlich, New York dealers, to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919);
• 1919: bequeathed by C. L. Freer to the Freer Gallery of Art.

See further details in r.: Les Côtes à Dieppe; v.: Cliffs and building m0222.

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Due to the conditions 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. 280) as 'Adieu mes enfants! Il est l’heure'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 230, pl. 190.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1898.179, as 'Adieu mes enfants! Il est l’heure'.