The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Designs for RBA notepaper was drawn on an unrelated letter from Marion Henry Alexander Spielmann (1858-1948) to Whistler dated 28 October 1887. ¹

Designs for RBA notepaper, Glasgow University Library

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1164).

Images

Subject

Description

Designs for RBA notepaper, Glasgow University Library

Three designs for a crown and the initials 'R. V. A.'

Technique

Composition

Designs for RBA notepaper, Glasgow University Library

The letter was written on two sides of the paper, the sketches underneath. Whistler had designed a lion for the notepaper of the Royal Society of British Artists (see Crowned lion m1133 et seq.) and this may represent designs for a monogram on the flap of envelopes for the RBA. They do not seem to have been adopted.

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903 and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1955: given by Miss Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

There is no record of an exhibition 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. 1164) as 'Designs for RBA notepaper'.

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 #03765.