The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Harmony in violet and amber dates from 1883/1884.

Harmony in violet and amber, Freer Gallery of Art

This work is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 906).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Harmony in violet and amber, Freer Gallery of Art

Millie Finch (fl. 1875-1885).

Technique

Technique

Harmony in violet and amber, Freer Gallery of Art

See technical details in Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.

History

Provenance

• 1884: sold by Messrs Dowdeswell to Edward John Poole (b. ca 1848).
• Before 1888: acquired by Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934);
• 1902: sold in June to 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. 906).

Exhibitions

• 1884: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 19) as 'Harmony in violet and amber'.
• 1888: III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1888 (cat. no. 40) as 'Variation in Violet und Gold'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 88).

The Builder, 24 May 1884, commented on:

`figures of young girls ..."Pink Note" … "Harmony in Violet and Amber". These figures are very slightly sketched, and their faces will certainly not bear looking close at; but they nearly all have character in pose, and show that there is good drawing underlying their shadowy similitude'.

By the terms of Freer's will, this work cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 906) as 'Harmony in violet and amber'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 19) as 'Harmony in violet and amber'.
• III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1888 (cat. no. 40) as 'Variation in Violet und Gold'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 88).

Books on Whistler

• Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobson, Blythe McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor: Lovely Little Games, New Haven and London, 2019.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 202, pl. 133.
• Myers, Kenneth John, Mr. Whistler’s Gallery: Pictures at an 1884 Exhibition, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2003, p. 69 (cat. no. 43).

Journals 1906-Present

• Anon., 'Mr Whistler's Exhibition', The Builder, London, 24 May 1884.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1902.164a-c.
• Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.