The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0782
The Staircase; note in red
Date
The Staircase; note in red probably dates from the spring of 1880.
The Staircase; note in red, Freer Gallery of Art
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 782).
Images
The Staircase; note in red, Freer Gallery of Art
The Staircase; note in red, framed, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Site
The Staircase; note in red, Freer Gallery of Art
Venice, Italy. The courtyard of the Palazzo Contarini della Porta di ferro, in the sestiere of Castello. 1
Technique
Technique
The Staircase; note in red, Freer Gallery of Art
See discussion in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 782).
Conservation History
It was drawn over another sketch, drawn the opposite way up, showing some arches, and signed with a butterfly.
History
Provenance
- 1893: possibly among 'unfinished' drawings sold at auction, Sotheby's, London, 23 January 1893 (lots 113-130);
- 1893: possibly acquired through Messrs Dowdeswell, London art dealers, by Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), London;
- 1902: bought from Theobald by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit;
- 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.
Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 782).
Exhibitions
The Staircase; note in red, framed, Freer Gallery of Art
- 1881: Venice Pastels, Fine Art Society, London, 1881 (cat. no. 35) as ''The Staircase; note in red'.
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 782) as 'The Staircase; note in red'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Venice Pastels, Fine Art Society, London, 1881 (cat. no. 35) as 'The Staircase; note in red'.
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Mr. Whistler's Pastels at the Fine Art Society', The Standard, London, 31 January 1881, p. 2.
- Anon., 'Venice Pastels, Daily Telegraph, London, 5 February 1881.
Journals 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Mr Whistler's Venice, or, Pastels by Pastelthwaite', Punch, vol. 80, 12 February 1881, p. 69.
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. 171 (cat. no. 90).
- Grieve, Alastair, Whistler's Venice, New Haven and London, 2000pp. 146-48, repr. pl. 182, old photograph of the staircase repr. pl. 183.
- Way, Thomas Robert, Memories of James McNeill Whistler, the Artist, London and New York, 1912, repr. f.p. 52.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 262, pl. 252.
Websites
- Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1902.174a-b as 'The Staircase: Note in Red'.
Notes:
1: Grieve 2000 [more], pp. 146-48, repr. pl. 182, old photograph of the staircase repr. pl. 183.