The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

M.0324
In the Studio

In the Studio

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1865
Collection: Detroit Institute of Arts
Accession Number: 51.223
Medium: watercolour, gouache and chalk
Support: tan wove paper laid down on board
Size: 11 5/16 x 7 1/4" (288 x 185 mm)
Signature: none
Inscription: v: 'J. M. Whistler' in an unknown hand; on verso of card, 'S9593 | 327 Whistler / Green gold' in an unknown hand

Date

In the Studio may date from August 1865 when Whistler, as he told Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904), was planning a group portrait. 1

In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts
In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 324).

Images

In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts
In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts

The Artist's Studio, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane
The Artist's Studio, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane

Whistler in his Studio, Art Institute of Chicago
Whistler in his Studio, Art Institute of Chicago

Subject

Site

Whistler in his Studio, Art Institute of Chicago
Whistler in his Studio, Art Institute of Chicago

The interior looks like Whistler's house in Lindsey Row, Chelsea, as seen in The Artist in his Studio (Whistler in his Studio) y063.

Sitter

In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts
In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts

Possibly Joanna Hiffernan (b. ca 1843-d.1886) and Emelie 'Millie' Eyre Jones (1850-1920).

Technique

Composition

In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts
In the Studio, Detroit Institute Of Arts

The Artist's Studio, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane
The Artist's Studio, Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane

Whistler in his Studio, Art Institute of Chicago
Whistler in his Studio, Art Institute of Chicago

This may be a preliminary study, like the two oils The Artist's Studio y062 and The Artist in his Studio (Whistler in his Studio) y063, for a group portrait that was never completed.

Frame

It is possible that the note on the verso, 'Whistler/ Green gold' (written in an unknown hand) related to a proposed frame. At the Dowdeswell exhibitions of 1884 and 1886, Whistler chose frames in several shades of gold to match the works on show.

History

Provenance

Exhibitions

None known in Whistler's lifetime.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

Books on Whistler

Catalogues 1906-Present

Websites


Notes:

1: Whistler to Fantin-Latour, 16 August [1865], GUW#11477.