The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Study for 'Symphony in Flesh-colour and pink: Mrs F. R. Leyland' dates from 1871/1874.

Study for 'Symphony in Flesh-colour and pink: Mrs F. R. Leyland', Amon Carter Museum

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 433).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Study for 'Symphony in Flesh-colour and pink: Mrs F. R. Leyland', Amon Carter Museum

This is a study for Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland y106, although it is not certain if Frances Leyland (1834-1910) actually posed for it.

Technique

Composition

Study for 'Symphony in Flesh-colour and pink: Mrs F. R. Leyland', Amon Carter Museum

Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland, The Frick Collection

This is one of numerous studies for Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland y106. Galassi suggests that it is the front view of the dress seen in Mrs Leyland, standing, holding a book m0437. ¹

History

Provenance

• 1910: according to Christie's, acquired by Henry Harper Benedict (1844-1935);
• 1935: bequeathed to his widow Katherine Geddes Benedict (1879-1961) and daughter Josephine Katherine Benedict, Mrs James Douglass Sharpe (ca 1918-1946), New York;
• 1962: sold at auction, Benedict estate sale, Sotheby's, London, 21 November 1962 (lot 3), and bought by Julius H. Weitzner (1896-1986), on behalf of Agnew, London dealers (#J2912);
• 1962: sold to Joseph Herman Hirshhorn (1899-1981), 4 December 1962;
• 1986: sold by the Hirschorn Museum 'to Benefit its Acquisitions program', at auction, Christie's, New York, 30 May 1986 (lot 183) and bought by Kennedy, New York dealers;
• 1986: bought by a private collector in 1886;
• 1990: sold through Kennedy's to the Amon Carter Museum, purchased with funds provided by the Council of the Amon Carter Museum.

The early provenance is unknown. A Kennedy's label that was originally on the verso gave the title 'Lady', but it is not known if this dated from the early 20th century or from 1986.

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited 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. 433) as "Study for 'Symphony in Flesh-colour and pink: Mrs F. R. Leyland' ".
• Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (oil, cat. no. 106).

Books on Whistler

• MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, p. 108, repr. p. 107, pl. 100.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Painters of the Beautiful, Durlacher Brothers, New York, 1964 (cat. no. 23).
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Whistler. The Graphic Work: Amsterdam, Liverpool, London, Venice, Agnew and Sons, London; Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool; City Art Gallery, Glasgow, 1976 (cat. no. 64).
• Variations on a Musical Theme: Selections from the Museum Collection, Hirschorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, 1982.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Notes, Harmonies, and Nocturnes: Small Works by James McNeill Whistler, M. Knoedler and Co., Inc., New York, 1984 (cat. no. 34).
• Revealed Treasures: Drawings from the Permanent Collection, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, 2001-2002.

Websites

• Amon Carter Museum of American Art website at https://www.cartermuseum.org.

Other

• Calvert, Robyne Erica, Fashioning the artist: artistic dress in Victorian Britain 1848-1900, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2012.