The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Parasol; red note was probably started in 1884 and was reworked in 1889.

Étude, Revue Indépendente, vol. 1, 1886, repr.

Parasol; red note, Thomas Colville Fine Art

This work is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 957). This entry has been updated and revised.

Images

Subject

Sitter

Parasol; red note, Drouot, Paris, 25 November 1903 (lot 2)

The model has not been identified.

Technique

Composition

Étude, Revue Indépendente, vol. 1, 1886, repr.

Parasol; red note, Drouot, Paris, 25 November 1903 (lot 2)

Parasol; red note, Thomas Colville Fine Art

This is a rare example of a drawing totally reworked, with a nude model transformed into a model draped in robes. It is possible that, responding to criticism of the nude, he intended to show that the clothed figure was as sensuous as the nude. The twist of the body, and glittering gauze drapery, emphasizing breasts and hips, appear unusually seductive.

The vase is a little classical accessory, the costume and parasol are consistent, and the figure has something of the quality of a Tanagra statuette. The reworking of the pastel, at the time when Whistler's interest in classical art was re-awakened, may have influenced the choice of costume.

Technique

Parasol; red note, Thomas Colville Fine Art

There are signs of alterations to her feet, and her left foot was left unfinished. The curves around the sunshade are vague, so that it is unclear where it starts and stops. The pastel may sometimes have been moistened before application, to darken and vary the colours.

Conservation History

There are slight signs of water staining along the lower edge and sides.

History

Provenance

• ca 1900: probably taken from Whistler's studio by Carmen Rossi (b. ca 1878;
• 1903: sold at auction, Drouot, Paris, 25 November 1903 (lot 2, repr.) 'La Femme à l'Ombrelle', bought by 'Anson';
• 1903: with William Stephen Marchant (1868-1925), art dealer, London.
• Date unknown: said by Knoedler's to have been in the collection of Jules Chavasse (1858-1919), Paris.
• 1922: sold at auction, Lair Dubreuil, Paris, 22 June 1922 (lot 50) bought by Knoedler's, New York art dealers;
• 1926: sold on 31 December to Charles S. Carstairs (1865-1928), New York art dealer.
• 2015: sold at auction, Leslie Hindman, Chicago, 25 September 2015 (lot 391) as 'Parasol; red note';
• 2015: bought by Thomas Colville (n/a), Fine Art, New Haven and New York.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 957); the provenance has been revised and updated.

Exhibitions

• 1884: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 65) as 'Parasol; red note'.
• 1889: probably New English Art Club, Dudley Gallery, London, 1889 (cat. no. 19) as `Rose and Red'.
• 1903: probably Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 167) and 1904 (cat. no. 6) as 'Femme à l'Ombrelle'.

Critics in 1884 were unhappy about the model's nudity: the Kensington News of 29 May 1884, for instance, commented 'I don't admire the young lady who considers a parasol full dress costume.' ¹

It is likely but not absolutely certain that the same pastel, reworked, was that shown at the New English Art Club, but several art critics responded favourably to the reworked pastel as exhibited in 1889. ² The Daily Telegraph of 19 April 1889, for instance, praised:

'the graceful, delicate girl draped in rose, with a red `note' in the shape of falling drapery round her head, a little thing that might have been produced thousands of years ago in Etruria had but the Etruscans gone in for fantastic pastel instead of pottery.'

On the other hand, one review, in the Birmingham Daily Post of 15 April 1889, considered it 'not equal to his reputation.' Furthermore, the Pall Mall Gazette of 16 April 1889 apparently considered it to be a nude, and could not see 'how his use of it can, as it stands, be defended.'

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 957) as 'Parasol; red note'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

EXHIBITIONS:

• 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 65) as 'Parasol; red note'.
• Probably New English Art Club, Dudley Gallery, London, 1889 (cat. no. 19) as 'Rose and Red'.
• Probably Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 167) and 1904 (cat. no. 6) as 'Femme à l'Ombrelle'.

SALE:

• Drouot, Paris, 25 November 1903 (lot 2, repr.) 'La Femme à l'Ombrelle'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., 'Mr. Whistler's Exhibition', The Standard, London, 19 May 1884, p. 2.
• 'M.C.S.' [Malcolm Charles Salaman], Kensington News, London, 29 May 1884.
• Fun, London, 4 June 1884.
• Anon., [New English Art Club], The News of the World, London, 14 April 1889.
• Anon., 'London Correspondence', Birmingham Daily Post, Birmingham, 15 April 1889, p. 5.
• Anon., [New English Art Club], The Daily Telegraph, London, 19 April 1889.
• Anon., 'The New English Art Club', Glasgow Herald, Glasgow, 19 April 1889, p. 9.
• Anon., [New English Art Club], Pictorial World, London, 25 April 1889.

Journals 1855-1905

• Wedmore, Frederick, ‘Mr Whistler's Arrangement in Flesh Colour and Gray’, The Academy, vol. 25, 24 May 1884, p. 374.
• Revue Indépendente de Littérature et d'Art, nouvelle série, tome 1, 1886, 'L'édition de luxe contient, en double tirage, sur japon et chine, quatre études de James M. R. [sic] Whistler'.
• AthenaeumAnon., 'The Whistler Sale in Paris', The Athenaeum, no. 3971, 5 December 1903, p. 761.

Books, General

• Carstairs, Carroll, Postscript to Criticism, London, 1934, repr. xxv.

Catalogues 1906-Present

SALES:

• Lair Dubreuil, Paris, 22 June 1922 (lot 50).
• Leslie Hindman, Chicago, 25 September 2015 (lot 391) 'Parasol; red note', Hindman website.

Websites

• Leslie Hindman, auctioneers, Chicago, 2015, website.