The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1526
r.: A woman in a blue robe seated on a sofa; v.: Illegible
Date
r.: A woman in a blue robe seated on a sofa; v.: Illegible dates from about 1898.
r.: A woman in a blue robe seated on a sofa, The Hunterian
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1526).
Images
r.: A woman in a blue robe seated on a sofa, The Hunterian
Verso not reproduced.
Subject
Sitter
r.: A woman in a blue robe seated on a sofa, The Hunterian
R. B. Philip noted the model as Ethel Warwick (1882-1951) but later suggested it was Eva Victoria Carrington (1887-1979). 1
Technique
Technique
r.: A woman in a blue robe seated on a sofa, The Hunterian
The drawing, in particular the lines of drapery, is confused by another drawing underneath. There are considerable signs of rubbing and scraping out including the scraping out of a head, from the earlier drawing, below the centre at left. This earlier drawing showed a girl with a turquoise cap seated on a sofa that was draped with some material of a bright brick red. Pink and flesh colour tinted her body and draperies. This was another variation on the theme of the Carrington girls on the sofa (such as The Green Cap m1527), and dated from the same period.
Conservation History
The paper is a dark greyish brown, darkened at the top under the old mount. It has small fibres and flecks of wood-stalk and some black spots, and a fine, faint, vertical grain. There are faint traces of a drawing on the verso.
History
Provenance
- 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his sister-in-law Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
- 1935: given by Miss Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.
Exhibitions
As far as is known, it was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.
By the terms of Miss Philip's gift, this work cannot be exhibited in 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. 1526) as 'r.: A woman in a blue robe seated on a sofa; v.: Illegible'.
Websites
- The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.
Notes:
1: GUL MS Whistler NB3, pp. 15-16.