The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0345.
r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace; v.: Two women looking over a terrace
Date
r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace; v.: Two women looking over a terrace date from 1867/1869.
r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace, The Hunterian
The drawings are fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 345).
Images
r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace, The Hunterian
v: Two women looking over a terrace, The Hunterian
Study for 'Variations in Blue and Green', photograph, Library of Congress
Study for 'Variations in Blue and Green', The Hunterian
Variations in Blue and Green, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Sitter
r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace, The Hunterian
Not identified. Similar models appear in Study for 'Variations in Blue and Green' m0347.
Technique
Composition
r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace, The Hunterian
Variations in Blue and Green, Freer Gallery of Art
The seated figure could be a study for the central figure in Variations in Blue and Green y084; if so, it suggests a radically different approach to the central area of the composition.
r: Two nudes reclining on a terrace, The Hunterian
Study for 'Variations in Blue and Green', photograph, Library of Congress
Study for 'Variations in Blue and Green', The Hunterian
There are three studies of this group: the recto of r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace; v.: Two women looking over a terrace m0345, Study for 'Variations in Blue and Green' m0347 and Study for 'Variations in Blue and Green' m0346. They show nudes in similar, but not identical, poses. It is likely that the figures would have worn semi-classical robes in the final composition, which could have been an unrealised figure composition or a variant on Variations in Blue and Green y084.
The poses invite comparison with the intertwined nudes in Le Sommeil (1866, Petit Palais, Paris) by Jean-Désiré-Gustave Courbet (1819-1877).
Technique
See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 342).
History
Provenance
- 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his sister-in-law and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
- 1958: bequeathed to the University of Glasgow.
Exhibitions
There are no records of exhibitions in Whistler's lifetime.
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 345) as 'r.: Two nudes reclining on a terrace; v.: Two women looking over a terrace'.
- Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 345, oil).
Websites
- The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.