The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Butterfly was drawn for publication in Whistler 1890 [more].

Butterfly, Metropolitan Museum of Art

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1249).

Images

Subject

Description

Butterfly, Metropolitan Museum of Art

A butterfly remotely based on Whistler's monogram 'JW', with the addition of a barbed tail curving to upper right. It was designed for Whistler 1890 [more].

Technique

Composition

Butterfly, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Designed for Whistler 1890 [more]. It was not published, but is closely related to r. and v.: Butterfly m1250.

History

Provenance

• 1890: probably sent by Whistler to William Heinemann (1863-1920), London publisher.
• 1957: bought from Fritz S. Hofheimer, New York, for the Elisha Whittelsey Collection by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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. 1249) as 'Butterfly'.

Authored by Whistler

• Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, London, 1890, p. 105.

Websites

• Metropolitan Museum of Art website at https://www.metmuseum.org, as 'The artist's butterfly in an enlarged version with a forked tail'.