The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

A frame and five paintings was probably drawn in January 1892, on a sheet containing a draft letter from Whistler to Count Paul von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg (1831-1901), German ambassador to Britain, and other drafts, unrelated to the drawing. ¹

A frame and five paintings, Glasgow University Library

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1343). The entry has been amended.

Images

Subject

Description

A frame and five paintings, Glasgow University Library

This includes a design for an elaborate frame for a painting or a mirror, and several paintings, including Nocturne: Grey and Gold - Westminster Bridge y145.

At the end of the letter is a drawing of a gallery interior, possibly a plan of Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892, in which this oil was hung.

Technique

Composition

A frame and five paintings, Glasgow University Library

Nocturne: Grey and Gold - Westminster Bridge, Glasgow Museums, Burrell Collection

Nocturne: Blue and Gold - St Mark's, Venice, National Museum of Wales

The paintings include Nocturne: Grey and Gold - Westminster Bridge y145 at the top of the sheet, and just possibly Nocturne: Blue and Gold - St Mark's, Venice y213 at the bottom (if Whistler was being very inaccurate!).

The Nocturne in the centre could possibly have been Nocturne y153, shown in VI. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1892, or Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach y152, which, like the other two paintings, was shown in Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892.

Conservation History

The paper was folded into eight. It is browned at the bottom and right hand edges. There are small tears and paper losses down the right side.

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.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1343). as 'A frame and five paintings'.

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 #00261.