The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Miss Cumberlege was drawn in September 1882 at the house of George Fletcher Esq., Lancrigg, Grasmere, and given by Whistler to the sitter, Miss G. F. B. Cumberlege. ¹

Miss Cumberlege, National Gallery of Art, DC

The drawing is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 873).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Miss Cumberlege, National Gallery of Art, DC

Miss Gertrude Frances Balmain Cumberlege was born in Woburn, Bedfordshire in 1866, the daughter of Marion Balmain (b. ca 1827) and the Reverend Samuel Francis Cumberlege (1811-1899). In 1881 he was rector of St Paul, Covent Garden, and was probably attending a Church Congress in the Lake District when this drawing was made in Grasmere. Gertrude Cumberlege died on 20 February 1945 in London.

Technique

Technique

Miss Cumberlege, National Gallery of Art, DC

Whistler used a heavy weight paper with a pebbled grain, which had surprisingly little effect on the precise, fine pen lines. The figure was built up with areas of diagonal shading, with few outlines. It is an intricate drawing done with fine lines of a rich burnt umber colour. The criss-crossed lines shimmer with flickering light.

History

Provenance

• 1882: given by Whistler to Miss Gertrude Frances Balmain Cumberlege (1866-1945).
• 1928: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 16 July 1926 (lot 52a) as 'Miss Cumberlege' and bought by Knoedler's, New York dealers;
• 1928: sold to Charles Sessler (1854-1935), dealer, Philadelphia, and immediately sold by him to Lessing Julius Rosenwald (1891-1971), December 1928;
• 1943: given to the National Gallery of Art;
• 1980: moved from Alverthorpe to the National Gallery of Art.

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. 873) as 'Miss Cumberlege'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

SALE:

• Christie's, London, 16 July 1926 (lot 52a).

Websites

• National Gallery of Art website at https://www.nga.gov.