The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Portrait of Whistler probably dates from 1898/1900, but could date from earlier.

It is drawn on the verso of the draft of a letter to a newspaper editor, possibly dating from May 1898. ¹

Portrait of Whistler, Library of Congress

It is related to Whistler's appearance in Gold and Brown y462, which is dated 1896/1898 and was exhibited in the Exhibition of International Art, International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, Knightsbridge, London, 1898.

The drawing was owned by Carmen Rossi (b. ca 1878 who modelled for Whistler from 1894 on, and was proprietess of the Académie Carmen 1898-1901.

The drawing is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1533) dated 1898/1900.

Images

Subject

Sitter

Portrait of Whistler, Library of Congress

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903).

Technique

Composition

Portrait of Whistler, Library of Congress

Gold and Brown, National Gallery of Art, DC.

This drawing is closely related to the self-portrait in oil, Gold and Brown y462. It is not certain if this is a drawing for, or of the oil, or a self-portrait in its own right, since it does not precisely reflect the appearance of Whistler in Gold and Brown. ²

It is possible that when Gold and Brown was shown at the ISSPG in 1898, and Whistler had considered making a drawing of it for reproduction in the catalogue. ³ This might account for the vivid detail of the drawing but not for certain inaccuracies. In the painting the coat is unbuttoned, and his right hand in a waistcoat pocket. In the drawing, but not in the oil, Whistler is shown wearing an overcoat, with its collar turned up, over his shoulder.

The final possibility is that it is a drawing from life, but reflects Whistler's appearance about the time that the oil portrait was completed around 1898.

Technique

Portrait of Whistler, Library of Congress

A tangle of vigorous crosshatching, reinforced by monochrome washes, blends the figure with the background. Whistler washed and scraped out an area down the right side of the face and left, over the cheek, and redrew it. This suggests he was concerned with the precise details of his appearance, in the drawing, or of its correspondence with the painting.

Conservation History

There is a rough edge at the bottom of the sheet.

History

Provenance

• 1898/1901: possibly acquired from Whistler or from his studio by Carmen Rossi (b. ca 1878, Paris;
• 1903: sold at auction, Drouot, Paris, 25 November 1903 (lot 6, repr.) as 'Portrait de Whistler', and bought by William Stephen Marchant (1868-1925), London art dealer; ⁴
• 1903: bought by Joseph Pennell (1860-1926), 11 December 1903;
• 1917: given by Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) to the Library of Congress.

For further details see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1527).

Exhibitions

• 1903: Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 183) as 'James McNeill Whistler'.
• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 181) as 'Portrait of Whistler'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1533) as 'Portrait of Whistler'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

EXHIBITION:

• Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 183) as 'James McNeill Whistler'.
• Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 181) as 'Portrait of Whistler'.

SALE:

• Drouot, Paris, 25 November 1903 (lot 6, repr.) as 'Portrait de Whistler'.

Journals 1855-1905

• Anon., 'The Whistler Sale in Paris', The Athenaeum, no. 3971, 5 December 1903, p. 761.

Books on Whistler

• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, repr. f.p. 202.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Whistler Journal, Philadelphia, 1921, pp. 40, 243-44, repr. f.p. 40 as 'Sketch from the Portrait in the 1900 Paris Exhibition'.

Books, General

• Virga, Vincent, and curators of the Library of Congress; historical commentary by Alan Brinkley, Eyes of the nation : a visual history of the United States, New York, 1997.

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 #09607.
• Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov.