The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Three figures dates from about 1858 and was given to Deborah Delano Haden (1825-1908) or her husband Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910).

Three figures, Freer Gallery of Art

Fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 287).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Three figures, Freer Gallery of Art

It has been suggested that the figure at left was Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) and that at right, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). ¹ It is also possibleperhaps more likely that the latter was Ernest Delannoy (d. 1869/1872), a mutual friend, who had a certain resemblance to Whistler, which was emphasized by wearing similar clothes.

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. 287) as 'Three Figures'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, pp. 232, 301, pl. 194.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1898.183, as 'Whistler with Friends'.