The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1266
r.: Butterfly; v.: Tail of butterfly
Date
r.: Butterfly; v.: Tail of butterfly dates from 1890/1892.
r.: Butterfly, Library Of Congress
v.: Tail of butterfly, Library Of Congress
They are catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1266).
Images
r.: Butterfly, Library Of Congress
v.: Tail of butterfly, Library Of Congress
Subject
Description
r.: Butterfly, Library Of Congress
The butterflies derive remotely from Whistler's monogram 'JW', with, in addition, a barbed tail. They are designs for Whistler 1892 [more]. A cut-out butterfly from the first edition of The Gentle Art of Making Enemies is stuck on the recto.
Technique
Composition
r.: Butterfly, Library Of Congress
A design for Whistler 1892 [more]. The printed butterfly stuck beside the drawing was printed on the 'Dedication' page in 1890, and was a little larger (12 mm, 7/16") than the tiny 9 mm (3/8") to which the drawing was actually reduced.
The drawing was used to illustrate the 'Moral' at the end of the 1892 catalogue, a quotation from the Illustrated London News: 'Modern British (!) art will now be represented in the National Gallery of the Luxembourg by one of the finest paintings due to the brush of an English (!) artist, namely, Mr.Whistler's portrait of his mother.' (Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother y101)
History
Provenance
- 1890/1892: probably sent by Whistler to William Heinemann (1863-1920), London publisher.
- 1917/1921: given by Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) and Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) to the Library of Congress.
For further details see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1266).
Exhibitions
It was not, as far as is known, exhibited 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. 1266) as 'r.: Butterfly; v.: Tai1 of butterfly'.
Authored by Whistler
- Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, London, 1890, 'Dedication'.
- Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, 2nd edition, London and New York, 1892, repr. p. 331.
Websites
- Library of Congress website at https://www.loc.gov.