The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Portrait of the artist dates from between 1871 and 1875.

Portrait of the artist, Private collection

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 423).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Portrait of the artist, Private collection

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).

Technique

Technique

The 1995 catalogue raisonné describes it as follows:

'The orangey brown paper has a strong vertical grain, and large fragments of stalk. The soft touches of chalk blend with the grain of the brown paper to give a solid and rounded picture. In contrast, wiry lines of loose curls over the hair and the angular shading on the white shirt enliven the drawing. There are traces of white in the collar and eye. There are three pin-holes at centre top.' ¹

MacDonald discusses this self-portrait:

'On 31 October 1893 Whistler told T. R. Way, concerning a drawing acquired by his father, the lithograph master-printer Thomas Way, and now in the Freer Gallery of Art: ‘About the drawing I dont remember giving it to your Father - but if I did, it surely must have been by myself! - I think he will know that I am scarcely in the habit of collecting the sketches of my contemporaries!!!! - Besides know that at one time I always made a drawing before going to bed! - of myself I mean - though I finally destroyed most of them - I hope his one is not so very bad - though doubtless if I had it here I would pop it in the fire - where I daresay it ought to have gone with the rest! - Perhaps one of these evenings I shall do another!’ ²

… In the 1870s Whistler did indeed make a series of self-portraits in chalk, charcoal, and pastel on brown paper, measuring between about 7 x 6” and 11 x 7”. It is hard to date these works, because they were undoubtedly drawn over a fairly short period, but they share certain characteristics of medium, style and technique. ...

Other known self-portraits include a head and shoulders, three-quarter face, view of the artist, drawn in charcoal and touched up in wash, in Colby College Museum of Art (r.: Self-portrait; v.: standing woman m0463). He is lit from the left and the area behind him to left is deeply shadowed: a white lock in his curly hair is touched with white chalk. Another Self-portrait is in the Art Institute of Chicago (Self-portrait m0422): the artist is again lit from the left, behind, so that the light falls on the paper held in his hands, close to his chest. Bold diagonal lines from lower left to upper right unify the figure with the surrounding shadows.

Two self-portraits are in the Freer Gallery of Art (Portrait of the Artist m0682, r.: Portrait of the Artist; v.: Nude m0683). One shows just the head, the other, a half-length, shows him drawing, the paper on a table before him, the light catching his hand and face and white lock, and casting deep shadows behind.

The present drawing, Portrait of the artist, is similar in size to the smaller of the two Freer Gallery works (Portrait of the Artist m0682), and, like that, is somewhat vignetted. The artist stares ahead, almost straight on, and is lit from the left, illuminated against a shadowed area indicated by masses of diagonal chalk lines. He was likely working by flickering candlelight or by the light of the fire. A soft effect is adopted for the face, making use of the rough texture of the orangey-brown paper, rubbing the broad chalk lightly over the grained surface with its occasional flecks of stalk – a very satisfying surface to work on. Very light touches of white chalk highlight the face and collar at left. A few sharper black lines outline his face to left, others indicate the angular lines of jacket and collar. Tiny dots on his eyes define the pupils, accentuating his piercing gaze.

Wiry lines enliven the curly mass of dark hair, where the white lock is noticeable. Whistler self-consciously refined his distinctive appearance, combing his hair to reveal this white lock, a genetic mutation called the Waardenburg syndrome. A visitor to the Whistler household, Anne Benson Procter, described him acutely in 1877 as 'a very remarkable looking person – dark – eyes and hair – and one white lock, on his forehead – all the family have this – He thinks very highly of his own works.' And so he did, he was not modest! but he was, as this drawing shows, self-critical. Here, Whistler does not glamorise himself: he sees and shows himself a serious, intent figure. It is a very sensitive, introspective, and subtle selfportrait of an artist well-known for the very different qualities of affected dandyism and aggressive self-publicising. It is also a fine, satisfying, and rather beautiful work.' ³

History

Provenance

• Date unknown: acquired by the art dealer Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (1840-1892), who departed hurriedly for the USA in 1889;
• 1889: sold by order of Thibadeau's trustees, at auction, Sotheby's, London, 9/13 December 1889 (lot 1140) as 'His own Portrait' and bought by Edmund F. Deprez (1851-1915), London art dealer, for £20.0.0.
• By 1905: owned by John Postle Heseltine (1843-1929), London.
• Date unknown: said to have the 'red collectors stamp of J. Pitt' (label on verso).
• Before 1925: owned by William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851-1925);
• 1926: sold at auction, Lord Leverhulme sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 4 March 1926 (lot 354, repr.).
• Before 1958: owned by the Hon. Alvan Tufts Fuller (1878-1958) and his wife Viola Theresa Davenport (d. 1959);
• 1961: sold by the Fuller Foundation Inc., at auction, Christie's, London, 1 December 1961 (lot 10) as 'Self-portrait' and bought by Julius H. Weitzner (1896-1986), London art dealer, for 480 gns.
• Date unknown: according to Parke Bernet, owned at some time by Robert Owen Lehman (1891-1969), New York.
• By 1971: owned by Benjamin Sonnenberg (1901-1978);
• 1979: sold at auction, Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 7 June 1979 (lot 681, repr.) as 'Self Portrait', bought by Robert M. Light (1929-2016), New York art dealer;
• After 1979: sold by R. Light to Walter Klein, New York;
• 2020: auction, Christie's, London, 26 November 2020 (lot 72), as 'Portrait of the artist', unsold.

Labels, which may indicate owners and exhibitions, but are not all identifiable, include the following:

(1) Printed label from the Lord Leverhulme sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 4 March 1926 (lot 354) with added typescript, 'Purchased at Lord Leverhulme Sale / Anderson Galleries, New York, March 4, 1926.', and ms. note, 'The Drawing has red collectors stamp "J. Pitt.["] / on [illegible] / in Whistler by Cary, page 196, No 256 / See Paris Catalogue May 1905 / Page 67, No 123'.

(2) Printed label: 'JAMES McN. WHISTLER / 1834-1903. / 191 His own Portrait / Black chalk 7 x 5 ½ in. (18 by 14 cm.) / * Bought at Thibadeau's sale, 1890.', and in ms.: 'From the collection of J. P. Heseltine Esq.'

(3) Printed and typescript, 'MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS / WHISTLER - Self Portrait / T.L. 10,703 Fuller Foundations, / Inc.' ;

(4-6) Small labels, '4182 / J. McN. Whistler / by himself'; '4260 / x 681'; 'No. 70028 / PICTURE.'; as well as notes written and stencilled on the back board 'MF.T.L.10,703/ Fuller Foundation inc.', '594 MP' and numerals '354/ 103/ 342/ 647/ 189'.

Exhibitions

• 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. 113b) as 'Portrait of the Artist'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 123) as 'Portrait de Whistler'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 423) as 'Portrait of the artist'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

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. 113b) as 'Portrait of the Artist'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 123) as 'Portrait de Whistler'.

SALE:

• Sotheby's, London, 9/13 December 1889 (lot 1140) as 'His own Portrait'.

Books on Whistler

• Cary, Elizabeth Luther, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist’s Works, New York, 1907, p. 196 (cat. no. 256).

Catalogues 1906-Present

EXHIBITION:

• MacDonald, Margaret F., Notes, Harmonies, and Nocturnes: Small Works by James McNeill Whistler, M. Knoedler and Co., Inc., New York, 1984 (cat. no. 3) as 'Portrait of the Artist'.

SALE:

• Lord Leverhulme sale, Anderson Galleries, New York, 4 March 1926 (lot 354, repr.) as 'The Artist's Self-Portrait'.
• Christie's, London, 1 December 1961 (lot 10) as 'Self-portrait'.
• Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, 7 June 1979 (lot 681, repr.) as 'Self Portrait'.
• Christie's, London, 26 November 2020 (lot 72), as 'Portrait of the artist'.

NOTE: Labels suggest it was at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, possibly about 1960, and either there or in another gallery or sale (cat. no. 191) at some time.