The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Rose and Pink – the Mother's sleep dates from the 1890s and was completed and signed in 1896.

Rose and Pink – the Mother's sleep, National Gallery of Canada

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1299).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Rose and Pink – the Mother's sleep, National Gallery of Canada

Probably Rose Amy Pettigrew (1872-1958) and her niece.

Technique

Technique

Although probably dating from a few years earlier, it was touched up and signed by Whistler before being sent to the owner in December 1896: 'I have seen to its completeness - and put the Butterfly in the right place!' wrote the artist. ¹

History

Provenance

• 1896: bought from Whistler by John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh, who owned it until at least 1905.
• 1911: bought from W. Scott, Montreal art dealer, by the National Gallery of Canada.

Further details are in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1300).

Exhibitions

• 1904: 78th Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1904 (cat. no. 76) as 'Rose and Pink – The Mother's Sleep'.
• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 39, repr) as 'Pink and Rose: The Mother's Sleep'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1300) as 'Rose and Pink – the Mother's sleep.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 78th Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 1904 (cat. no. 76) as 'Rose and Pink – The Mother's Sleep'.
• Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 39, repr.) as 'Pink and Rose: The Mother's Sleep'.

Websites

• National Gallery of Canada website at https://www.gallery.ca.