The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Miss Alexander dates from about 1872.

Miss Alexander, private collection

The drawing was fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 504) where it was dated 'c. 1873'.

Images

Subject

Sitter

Miss Alexander, private collection

Cicely Henrietta Alexander (1864-1932).

Technique

Composition

Miss Alexander, private collection

Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander, Tate Britain

This is a study for the composition of Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander y129.

History

Provenance

• By 1903: possibly acquired from the artist by William Cleverly Alexander (1840-1916).
• 1914: bought from V. G. Fischer, New York, by Knoedler's, New York art dealers, 13 March 1914 and exhibited in that year;
• 1914: sold in April to Seth Edward Thomas, Jr (1876-1932);
• 1932: passed by family descent to a private collection;
• 1984: exhibited in and consigned to Knoedler's;
• 1985-1986: consigned to Hirschl and Adler, New York dealers;
• 1987: sold to Davis and Langdale, New York dealers;
• By 1995: sold through Hirschl and Adler to a private collection.

The early history of this drawing is not certain. Alexander kept most drawings of his children. Furthermore, of those on the market, it is difficult to distinguish what was exhibited and sold in different exhibitions.

Exhibitions

• 1903: possibly Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 43) as 'Little Miss Alexander.'
• 1903: possibly Collection of Pictures, Drawings, Prints and China, and Decorative Furniture, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1903 (cat. no. 33).

It is not at all certain which of the portraits of the Alexander girls was exhibited in which exhibition.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 504) as 'Miss Alexander'.
• 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. 129).

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Possibly Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 43) as 'Little Miss Alexander.'
• Possibly Collection of Pictures, Drawings, Prints and China, and Decorative Furniture, Burlington Fine Arts Club, London, 1903 (cat. no. 33).

Journals 1855-1905

• Anon., 'London Exhibitions', The Art Journal, 1904, pp. 96-98, at p. 97.