The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1293
r.: Sleeping; v.: Standing Nude
Date
r.: Sleeping; v.: Standing Nude date from 1890/1893. The recto may have been touched up in 1902/1903.
r.: Sleeping, Freer Gallery of Art
The sheet is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1293).
Images
r.: Sleeping, Freer Gallery of Art
Verso not reproduced.
Subject
Sitter
r.: Sleeping, Freer Gallery of Art
Probably one of the Pettigrew sisters, Harriet ('Hettie') Pettigrew (1869-1953), Lilian Pettigrew (b. 1870), or Rose Amy Pettigrew (1872-1958).
Technique
Technique
r.: Sleeping, Freer Gallery of Art
It was left with Whistler for completion, specifically 'to add some orange', in 1902. 1
See technical details in Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.
Conservation History
On the verso is a narrow, straight figure, a woman in a pink cap, her hair cut in a fringe, and wearing voluminous draperies. There are brown washes across the bottom of the sheet. The figure has been almost entirely washed out.
History
Provenance
- 1902: sold on 16 June by Whistler to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit, but left with the artist for further work;
- 1903: probably sent to Freer after Whistler's death;
- 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.
Further details are is given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1293).
Exhibitions
- 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 120).
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. 1293) as 'Sleeping'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 120).
Books on Whistler
- Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobson, Blythe McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor: Lovely Little Games, New Haven and London, 2019.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, pp. 178, 272, pl. 94, 272.
Websites
- Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1902.114a-c, as 'Sleeping Nude'.
- Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.
Notes:
1: Freer memo, 25 August 1902, Freer Gallery of Art.