The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1419
Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure
Date
Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure probably dates from 1894, when Alexander Ionides (1840-1898) asked for Whistler's help in selling Tanagra statuettes. It is possible he gave Whistler the album of photographs of the statuettes, one of which Whistler copied in the album, in 1894.
Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure, The Hunterian
The photographs were mostly made by a process patented in 1879, but some by a method that could date from any time after 1847. Whistler had met the Ionides family before 1860 and they were in a position to acquire the figurines in the sixties and seventies, when Whistler was a frequent visitor to their house. Although it is assumed that the drawing was made in the mid-1890s, this is not certain.
It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1419).
Images
Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure, The Hunterian
Greek terracotta figure, photograph, The Hunterian
Subject
Description
Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure, The Hunterian
The figure of a woman, standing, drawn from the photograph of a 'Tanagra' statuette in an album. The Ionides album contains 35 photographs, of terra-cottas of widely different periods and subjects.
Technique
Composition
Greek terracotta figure, photograph, The Hunterian
Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure, The Hunterian
This is a drawing of one of the photographs of figurines in the album.
Technique
Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure, The Hunterian
The drawing was done with a sharp pointed pencil in precise, broken lines.
History
Provenance
- 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903 and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
- 1958: bequeathed by Miss Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.
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. 1419) as 'Sketch after a Greek terracotta figure'.
Books, General
- Williams, Mary Frances, Catalogue of the Collection of American Art at Randolph-Macon Woman's College: A Selection of Paintings, Drawings, and Prints, Charlottesville, 1977, p. 169, fig. 182b.
Catalogues 1906-Present
de Montfort, Patricia (ed.), Whistler and Nature, Compton Verney, 2018; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, 2019; The Hunterian, Glasgow, 2020.
Websites
- The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.