The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1049
Opal and grey - Early Dawn
Date
Opal and grey – Early Dawn was exhibited in 1886.
It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1049).
Images
Opal and grey – Early Dawn, Whereabouts unknown
Subject
Description
Unknown. Possibly a seascape.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
History
Provenance
- 1886: the purchaser was recorded by Messrs Dowdeswell, London art dealers, as F. W. Girdlestone, Sunningdale, Berkshire.
It is not certain who purchased the painting. 1
One possibility is Frederick ('Duck') Kennedy Wilson Girdlestone (1844-1922), who graduated from Oxford in 1867 (MA 1873) and was a barrister (called to the Bar in 1885); he became a teacher, mayor and collector. In 1891 he was a schoolmaster on the Parish of Godalming. However, he was not, as far as is known, a master in Sunningdale.
However, the Rev. William Harding Girdlestone was a schoolmaster at Sunningdale School, Berkshire. He was born in 1821 and died in January 1897. He married Emily Bradfield (1824-1918) and they had six children: Mary (1854-1935), Emily Josephine (1855-1930), Lucy (1858-1940), Theophilus William (1858-1899), Florence (1860-1902) and Ethel Maud (1861-1938). After Rev. Girdlestone's death, his wife and several daughters (Emily, Lucy and Florence) ran the school.
Exhibitions
- 1886: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 35) as 'Opal and grey – Early Dawn'.
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1049) as 'Opal and grey – Early Dawn'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 35) as 'Opal and grey – Early Dawn'.
Notes:
1: Messrs Dowdeswell to Whistler [July 1885/1886], GUW #00867. MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1049): this entry has been corrected.