The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Chelsea Shops was drawn in a letter from Whistler to Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) dated 7 January 1892, in which he asked for more proofs of lithographs, 'I would like four more of the Chelsea Embankment Shops: like this: on the old Dutch'. ¹

Chelsea Shops, Freer Gallery of Art

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1324).

Images

Subject

Site

Chelsea Shops, Freer Gallery of Art

Chelsea Shops, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

This is a sketch of the lithograph Chelsea Shops c024.

Technique

Technique

Chelsea Shops, Freer Gallery of Art

Chelsea Shops, lithograph, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The lithograph Chelsea Shops was originally drawn in 1888. Whistler's copy is fairly literal, although there are slight changes of emphasis, in the figures, and the lines are sharp where they were softer and less precise in the original.

Conservation History

The letter is on two single sheets, which originally had a fold down the middle. These are now laid down on paper.

History

Provenance

• 1892: sent by Whistler to Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London;
• 1904/1905: probably sold by Way to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1324).

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. 1324) as 'Chelsea Shops'.

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. Online edition, University of Glasgow, 2003-2004, GUW #03413.