The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Putney Bridge dates from about 1882.

Putney Bridge, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 874).

Images

Subject

Site

Putney Bridge, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Putney Bridge on the river Thames, London.

Technique

Technique

Putney Bridge, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 874).

History

Provenance

• 1882 or after: according to the Art Journal, 'a sepia drawing [sic] of Old Battersea Bridge' was given by Whistler to'Walter McNay'; ¹
• 1903: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 23 November 1903 (lot 141) and bought by Obach, London dealers, 32 gns.
• 1904: acquired by Frederick Keppel (1845-1912), New York art dealer.
• Date unknown: acquired by Henry Harper Benedict (1844-1935);
• 1935: bequeathed to his widow, Katherine Geddes Benedict (1879-1961), and daughter, Josephine Katherine Benedict, Mrs James Douglass Sharpe (ca 1918-1946);
• 1962: sold at auction, London, Sotheby, 21 November 1962 (lot 7, repr.) and bought by Weitzner for Agnew, London dealers (#J2913);
• 1963: sold on 9 August to Milton McGreevy (1903-1980), Kansas City;
• 1963: given by Milton McGreevy and his wife, Barbara McGreevy née James (1905-1996), through the Mission Fund, to the Nelson-Atkins Museum.

'Walter McNay' may have been Walter Lawrie MacNay (1866-1946), of the London Etching Co., son of Thomas Fothergill McNay (1836-1907) and Mary Isabella Cooke (Mrs T. F. McNay) (1840-1906, m. 1865) (1840-1906). His sister Eleanor ('Nora') Ruth McNay (1868-1886) was sketched by Whistler shortly before her death (see Portrait of Miss Nora McNay y348) and it is possible that this watercolour was given to the McNays around that time.

For further details see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 874).

Exhibitions

• 1904: Etchings, Dry-Points, and a Few Drawings by Whistler, Frederick Keppel & Co., New York, 1904 (cat. no. 107) as 'Putney Bridge'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 874) as 'Putney Bridge'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

EXHIBITION:

• 1904: Etchings, Dry-Points, and a Few Drawings by Whistler, Frederick Keppel & Co., New York, 1904 (cat. no. 107) as 'Putney Bridge'.

SALE:

• Christie's, London, 23 November 1903 (lot 141).

Journals 1855-1905

• Anon., 'Sales', Art Journal, 1904, pp. 31-33, at p. 31.