The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Writing on the Wall may date from 1893/1898. It was, however, seen in Whistler's studio in 1901, bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) in 1903, left with Whistler 'to work on', and finally delivered after Whistler's death. ¹

Writing on the Wall, Freer Gallery of Art

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1396).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Writing on the Wall, Freer Gallery of Art

A Violet Note, Freer Gallery of Art

Unidentified. The same model appears in a similar pose in A Violet Note m1395 .

Technique

Technique

Writing on the Wall, Freer Gallery of Art

The soft, contimnuous black outlines separate planes of shading and colour. On her legs, the pastel was rubbed in, with streaks of pastel added as highlights. Her hips catch the light, where pastel was rubbed and scumbled over the surface. The round end of the pastel was used to model the body, with soft blocks of cream colour moulded with the artist's finger. It is not obvious what, if any, alterations were made over the several years that Whistler kept it.

Conservation History

The dull, dark brown paper has a fine vertical grain and is dark at the edge, where it is slightly marked by the mount.

History

Provenance

• 1902: bought from Whistler in May 1902 by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Full details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1396).

Exhibitions

• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 128) as 'Writing on the Wall'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 131) as 'Writing on the Wall'.

By the terms of Freer's will, this work cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1396) as 'Writing on the Wall'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 128) as 'Writing on the Wall'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 131) as 'Writing on the Wall'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• The Inaugural Exhibition, Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, 1915, p. 50 (cat. no. 311).
• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 271, pl. 270.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1902.113a-c, as'Writing on the Wall'.
• Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2012, online website. GUW #01509, #01534.