The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Spring probably dates from 1894/1895. The subject was suggested to Whistler by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) on 2 August 1894. ¹

Spring, Terra Foundation for the Art

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1397). The record has been updated.

Images

Subject

Site

Spring, Terra Foundation for the Art

Details, like the turquoise arbour and the flower pot, suggest this is the garden at 100 Rue du Bac, Paris, but it is unlikely the model posed outside. Designs for the stand are seen in r. and v.: Designs for a flower stand m1399, and a similar bowl is seen in the garden, in lithographs such as La Belle Jardinière c101.

Sitter

Spring, Terra Foundation for the Art

Not identified.

Technique

Composition

The subject, a figure 'to, in a way, hint at Spring' – a small pastel or larger oil – was suggested to Whistler by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) on 2 August 1894. ²

Technique

Spring, Terra Foundation for the Art

The soft, loose outlines and soft focus details are sharpened up by the colour, and also varied with a perky, jagged line on the flowers.

Conservation History

The paper is an orangey reddish brown, fibrous, and with a fine vertical grain.

History

Provenance

• 1894: probably acquired by Frank J. Hecker (1846-1927) through Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919);
• 1927: passed by family descent to the grandson of Colonel Frank Hecker, G. T. Beaham Jr (d. 1986);
• 1986: passed to his estate.
• Date unknown: private collection, Missouri;
• 1995: sold at auction, Sotheby's, New York, 14 September 1995 (lot 121);
• 1996: Daniel J. Terra Collection, Terra Foundation for the Arts, Chicago;
• 2004: closure of Terra Museum of American Art;
• 2004-2005: works on paper from the Terra Foundation were deposited on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago.

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1397).

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. 134) as 'Spring'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1397) as 'Spring'.

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. 134) as 'Spring'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

EXHIBITION:

• Sweet, Frederick A., James McNeill Whistler, Art Institute of Chicago and Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, 1968 (cat. no. 52).
• Hausberg, M., Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The National Gallery of Canada, 1998-1999.
• The Decorative Form: The Aesthetic Movement, Arts & Crafts and the Asian Influence in American Art, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 1999.
• Figures and Forms: Selections from the Terra Foundation for the Arts, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 2000.
• Cartwright, Derrick R., Héroïque et le quotidien: les artistes américains, 1820–1920 (The Extraordinary and the Everyday: American Perspectives, 1820–1920), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, 2001, p. 24 (checklist) repr. p. 44.
• A Place on the Avenue: Terra Museum of American Art Celebrates 15 Years in Chicago, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, 2002-2003.

SALE:

• Sotheby's, New York, 14 September 1995 (lot 121, repr.).

Journals 1906-Present

• Pyne, Kathleen, ' "Classical Figures", A Folding Screen by Thomas Dewing', The Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, vol. 59, no. 1, Spring 1981, pp. 4-15, at pp. 6-7.
• Tedeschi, Martha and Britt Salvesen, 'Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography,' Museum Studies, vol. 24, no. 1, 1998, pp. 4-135, at p. 75 (checklist); repr. fig. 89, p. 69.

Websites

• Terra Foundation for American Art website.