The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Map of America was drawn on a form intended for the insurance of pictures travelling to the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1895. ¹ Whistler had sent work to the 1894 exhibition, but by 1895 his wife was ill and they had returned to England. The sketch probably dates from that year though it could be later.

Map of America, Glasgow University of Glasgow

The drawing is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1315), dated '1890/5'. The catalogue entry has been amended.

Images

Subject

Site

Map of America, Glasgow University of Glasgow

A very rough map of north and south America, with a route across the Atlantic from Britain indicated. The map may have been used to illustrate Whistler's travels; it may have been a record of routes to Valparaiso, Chile.

Technique

Technique

It is possible that the drawing is by Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896).

Conservation History

The perforations run through the drawing. The sheet has been folded in half, and the folds are soiled.

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903 and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1955: given by Miss Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

It was not 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. 1315) as 'Map of America'.

Websites

• The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903, edited by Margaret F. MacDonald, Patricia de Montfort and Nigel Thorp; including The Correspondence of Anna McNeill Whistler, 1855-1880, edited by Georgia Toutziari. On-line edition, University of Glasgow, 2004; website at http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence.