The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Design for a frame was drawn on the draft of a letter from Whistler to the Editor of The Globe, dating from on or after 29 November 1887. ¹ It refers to a letter from Marion Henry Alexander Spielmann (1858-1948) published in The Globe on 29 November, to which Whistler responded that the etchings on exhibition at the RBA had not been previously exhibited.

Design for a frame, Glasgow University Library

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1167).

Images

Subject

Description

Design for a frame, Glasgow University Library

This is a design for the narrow white wooden frame, decorated with painted or incised parallel lines, that Whistler used for etchings.

Technique

Technique

Design for a frame, Glasgow University Library

The letter is written on both sides of the sheet, with the sketch overlapping the text.

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

It has not been exhibited.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1167) as 'Design for a frame'.

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 #01722..

Other

• Parkerson, Sarah Lawrence, Variations in Gold: The Stylistic Development of the Picture Frames used by James McNeill Whistlers, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2007.