The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Portrait of Miss Yvonne Forster dates from 1881/1884. It is dated by the appearance of the girl, who looks about four years old, and the butterfly signature, which may have been added ca 1883.

Portrait of Miss Yvonne Forster, Colby College Museum of Art

This is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 838). The record has been updated.

Images

Subject

Sitter

Portrait of Miss Yvonne Forster, Colby College Museum of Art

Yvonne Isabella Forster (1877-1965) was born on 21 October 1877. Her father, Matthew Forster, was a Barrister at Law. Her mother was Amy Leslie Forster, née Worth. They lived at 37 Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge, London. Yvonne married Henry Dyson and had two daughters, Maude Elizabeth & Nina Dorothy.

Technique

Technique

Portrait of Miss Yvonne Forster, Colby College Museum of Art

Discussed in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 838).

Conservation History

The paper has darkened within the original mount.

History

Provenance

• 1881/1884: probably drawn for Amy Leslie Worth (Mrs Matthew Forster) (1852-1904);
• 1904: passed to her daughter Yvonne Isabella Forster (1877-1965), who married Harry Dyson (1853-1921);
• 1965: bequeathed to her daughter, Maud Eliza Dyson (1909-1986).
• 2013: given by Paula Crane Lunder (b. 1935) and Peter H. Lunder (b. 1933) to Colby College Museum of Art.

Exhibitions

• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 108) as 'Portrait of Miss Yvonne Forster'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 838) as 'Portrait of Miss Yvonne Forster.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 108) as 'Portrait of Miss Yvonne Forster'.

Websites

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