The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Trafalgar Square dates from about 1885. According to Charles Dowdeswell (1856?-1921), writing in 1887, it was a proposal for a mezzotint of Trafalgar Square, which was started but never, as far as is known, completed. ¹

Trafalgar Square, Library of Congress

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1022). The record has been updated.

Images

Subject

Site

Trafalgar Square, Library of Congress

Trafalgar Square with the portico of the National Gallery, London. According to C. Dowdeswell, 'Trafalgar Square from the window of a chemist in Cockspur Street or Trafalgar Square', quoted above, Prichard was a chemist at 65 Charing Cross. Cockspur Street was also at Charing Cross.

Technique

Composition

Trafalgar Square, Library of Congress

This was supposedly a study for a mezzotint, which was not, as far as is known, completed. ²

History

Provenance

• Date unknown: acquired by Lessing Julius Rosenwald (1891-1971);
• 1943: given to the National Gallery of Art;
• 1980: transferred from Alverthorpe to the National Gallery;
• After 1980: deposited in the Library of Congress.

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. 1022) as 'Trafalgar Square'.

Websites

• The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903, edited by Margaret F. MacDonald, Patricia de Montfort and Nigel Thorp; including The Correspondence of Anna McNeill Whistler, 1855-1880, edited by Georgia Toutziari. Online edition, University of Glasgow, 2003-2004: GUW #08720.
• Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2012, online website: Trafalgar Square, mezzotint, in G.249.