The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Three Butterflies were drawn for publication in Whistler 1890 [more].

Three Butterflies, Freer Gallery of Art

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1243).

Images

Subject

Description

Three Butterflies, Freer Gallery of Art

Three butterflies based on Whistler's monogram 'JW', with the addition of barbed tails. They were designed for Whistler 1890 [more].

Technique

Composition

Three Butterflies, Freer Gallery of Art

Designs for Whistler 1890 [more]. The topmost butterfly was used for p. 71, signing Whistler's letter to Atlas ( The World, 16 February 1882) on Whistler's mispelling of Venetian titles. The middle butterfly was for p. 283, "Exit the Prompter": a letter to Henry Romeike (1855-1903), 25 April 1890. A line was corrected at right. The bottom one was used on p. 39, a letter to Thomas Taylor (1817-1880) published in The World, 15 January 1879.

History

Provenance

• 1890: probably sent by Whistler to William Heinemann (1863-1920), London publisher.
• 1904: bought from Obach, London art dealers, by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1243).

Exhibitions

By the terms of Freer's will, this work cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1243) as 'Three Butterflies'.

Authored by Whistler

• Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, London, 1890, repr. pp. 39, 71, 283.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 282, pl. 287.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1904.450, as 'Three Butterflies'.