The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Theatrical sketch dates from about 1878.

Theatrical sketch, The Hunterian

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 672).

Images

Subject

Site

Theatrical sketch, The Hunterian

Possibly a scene at the Gaiety Theatre in London. Alternatively it might be related to Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore, which was first performed in London at the Opera Comique in 1878.

Technique

Technique

Theatrical sketch, The Hunterian

The brushwork is crude and not totally compatible with Whistler's usual work, but given the provenance, it has been included here as a possible work by Whistler. See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 672).

Conservation History

The sheet may have been torn by the artist and intended for destruction, but retrieved and repaired by Thomas Way (1837-1915) or his son Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913).

History

Provenance

• 1870s: torn by the artist and intended for destruction, but retrieved by Thomas Way (1837-1915) or his son Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London;
• ca 1913: acquired from Way or, after his death, from his widow, by Pickford Robert Waller (1849-1930);
• 1930: bequeathed to his daughter, Sybil Christina Waller (1882-1973);
• 1965: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 12 November 1965 (33) and bought by Knoedler's, New York dealers (#WCA 3549 #10);
• 1965: sold to Shirley Latter Schlesinger Kaufmann (Mrs Robert B. Kaufmann) (1916-2003), New Orleans;
• Before 1975: donated by Mrs Kaufmann to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

It was not 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. 672) as 'Theatrical sketch'.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.