The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

r.: Seated figure; v.: Dragonflies and a butterfly date from about 1878.

r.: Seated figure, Freer Gallery of Art

v.: Dragonflies and a butterfly, Freer Gallery of Art

The drawings are fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 698).

Images

Subject

Sitter

r.: Seated figure, Freer Gallery of Art

The figure was believed by C. L. Freer to be Maud Franklin (1857-1939). ¹

Comments

According to Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), a 'Sketch of a Lady, seated' was owned by H. E. Morgan in 1912. ² It shows a model in a similar pose to the figure on the recto of r.: Seated figure; v.: Dragonflies and a butterfly m0698, with her left arm resting on the chairback. The lines look weak, and numerous pentimenti display confusion about the pose. The resulting shadows on the woman's face look like a two-days growth of beard. It is possible that it was an abandoned study for this drawing, but, with only the reproduction to go by, it was excluded from the 1995 catalogue. ³

Technique

Composition

The dragonflies, similar to sketches on Study of Rosettes for Lady's Dress m0434 and Chelsea Reach and the dragonfly m0708, may relate to a decorative scheme, possibly for William Cleverly Alexander (1840-1916), or a design similar to Harmony in Yellow and Gold: The Butterfly Cabinet y195.

History

Provenance

• By 1905: owned by Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London;
• 1905: bought in June from Way by bought from Way by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) in June 1905
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 698).

Exhibitions

By the terms of Freer's will the drawing can not be lent to other venues.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 698) as 'r.: Seated figure; v.: Dragonflies and a butterfly'.

Journals 1855-1905

• Baldry, Alfred Lys, 'James McNeill Whistler: His Art and Influence', The Studio, vol. 29, 1903, pp. 237-45, repr. f.p. 238 as 'Seated Figure of a Woman Wearing a Long Full-Skirted Dress and a Hat'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, pp. 176, 255, pl. 90, 239.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1905.152a-b.