The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1330
Design for a poster for 'Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces'
Date
Design for a poster for 'Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces' was drawn in a letter from Whistler to Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), postmarked 6 March 1892. 1
Design for a poster for 'Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces', Freer Gallery of ARt
It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1330).
Images
Design for a poster for 'Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces', Freer Gallery of ARt
Subject
Description
Design for a poster for 'Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces', Freer Gallery of ARt
A large butterfly, developed from Whistler's initials 'JW', and having a barbed tail, is set on a trefoil (which in its turn was based on the initials of his wife Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896) ('BP' for Birnie Philip).
Technique
Composition
Design for a poster for 'Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces', Freer Gallery of ARt
This design was for a poster for Whistler's retrospective exhibition, Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892.
Technique
It was painted in a wash of ink, with a brush, in confident, clear lines. There is a patch of diagonal shading on one antenna.
There is a copy of the drawing by Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) in Glasgow University Library (Whistler LB5 p. l0).
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.
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. 1330) as "Design for a poster for 'Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces' ".
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, #03277.
Notes:
1: #03277.