The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Venetian courtyard dates from 1880.

Venetian courtyard, Colby College Museum of Art

This pastel is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 792). The record has been updated.

Images

Subject

Site

Venetian courtyard, Colby College Museum of Art

The courtyard of the Palazzo Zorzi in the sestiere of Castello, in Venice, Italy. ¹

Technique

Technique

Venetian courtyard, Colby College Museum of Art

See description in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 792).

History

Provenance

• 1974: with Stephen Somerville, London dealer in October;
• 1975: sold at auction from the collection of Mrs J. E. Morgan, Christie's, London, 18 July 1875 (lot 15, repr.) and bought by Agnew's, London dealers.
• 1982: sold at auction, Sotheby's, New York, 2 December 1982 (lot 13, repr.) and bought by Coe Kerr, New York dealers;
• Date unknown: private collection, Los Angeles.
• 1987-1988: with Coe Kerr, New York dealers;
• 1989: with Ira Spanierman (n/a), New York dealer in July.
• 1991: with Coe Kerr, New York dealers;
• 1991: sold at auction, Christie's, New York, 6 December 1991 (lot 133) and bought by Dr John Larkin (n/a) and Mrs Larkin;
• 2012: sold at auction, Christie's, New York, 28 November 2012 (lot 54) as 'Venetian Courtyard';
• 2013: given by Paula Crane Lunder (b. 1935) and Peter H. Lunder (b. 1933) to the Colby College Museum of Art.

The early provenance is unknown and the later history of this work, as it was taken by various art dealers, is not entirely clear. Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no 792).

Exhibitions

No record of an exhibition in Whistler's lifetime has been located.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 792) as 'Venetian courtyard'.

Books on Whistler

• Grieve, Alastair, Whistler's Venice, New Haven and London, 2000, pp. 148, repr. pl. 186, 19th century photograph of the courtyard repr. pl. 184.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Palaces in the Night: Whistler in Venice, Aldershot and California, 2001, p. 6, repr. pl. 1.

Catalogues 1906-Present

EXHIBITIONS:

• Old Master Drawings, Watercolors, & Prints from Thomas Agnew & Sons, London, Melbourne, Australia, 1976 (cat. no. 20).
• Americans in Venice, Coe Kerr Gallery, New York, 1983 (cat. no. 6), p. 27, repr.
• ホイスラー展. Whistler Exhibition in Japan, Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum, Shizuoka, 1986 (cat. no. 52).

SALES:

• Christie's, London, 18 July 1875 (lot 15, repr.).
• Sotheby's, New York, 2 December 1982 (lot 13, repr.).
• Christie's, New York, 6 December 1991 (lot 133).
• Christie's, New York, 28 November 2012 (lot 54) as 'Venetian Courtyard'.

Journals 1906-Present

• Coe Kerr Gallery advert., Antiques, vol. 140, July 1991, p. 25, repr.

Websites

• Colby College Museum of Art website at http://www.colby.edu/museum.