The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

r.: and v.: Butterfly were drawn in 1899 as an illustration for Whistler 1899 (F)[more].

r.: Butterfly, Art Institute of Chicago

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1561).

Images

Subject

Titles

The verso is recorded by the Art Institute of Chicago as 'Study of Butterfly'. ¹

Description

r.: Butterfly, Art Institute Of Chicago

A butterfly with wide spread shaded wings and a very long curving barbed tail.

Comments

In 1894 William Eden (1849-1915) commissioned a portrait of his wife Sybil Frances Grey, Lady Eden (1867-1945). Whistler, dissatisfied with the amount (100gns) and manner of payment, retained and altered the portrait (Brown and Gold: Portrait of Lady Eden y408). After an appeal, in December 1897, the Court de Cassation let him retain the portrait but return the money. Whistler was well satisfied to see the Code Napoléon altered, to specify an artist's right to decide the fate of his works.

Whistler planned to publish an account of the affair, a compilation of letters, newspaper reports and legal documents, with William Heinemann (1863-1920), who had published the Gentle Art of Making Enemies in 1890. There was some problem with publishing in London, and, with Heinemann’s tacit agreement, Louis-Henry May in Paris took over the publication. A first proof was run off, using mainly butterflies originally drawn for the Gentle Art of Making Enemies. These butterflies were mostly replaced by new ones, in a second proof. There are at least two versions of some of the designs. They were slightly reduced in size in the final publication.

For the book, Whistler designed 15 butterflies, a club (A club on a cushion m1564), and a frog (Frog m1553). He also drew some butterflies which were not used (v.: Butterfly; r.: see No. 1268 m1572, Butterfly with chequered wings m1578, r.: Butterfly; v.: Butterfly with chequered wings m1579). The Baronet and the Butterfly was comparatively sparing of butterflies. Many marginal annotations, which in the Gentle Art of Making Enemies would have warranted a butterfly, did not get one. Some of the butterflies were very badly reproduced (r. and v.: Butterfly m1561, r.: Butterfly 'Encountered'; v.: Butterfly m1562). There were obviously publication problems, and it was not an entirely satisfactory venture. However, Whistler did not admit of criticism and seems, publicly, to have been entirely satisfied with the outcome.

Technique

Composition

r.: Butterfly, Art Institute of Chicago

Butterfly, in Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly, p. xii, Glasgow University Library

This was drawn for publication in James McNeill Whistler, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict, Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899. It was inexpertly reproduced.

Technique

It was drawn in pencil, pen and black ink. The tail was not drawn in a continuous line, and the bottom of the tail was finally drawn over several rubbed out lines, while the dot was originally lower. The drawing on the verso, which showed the butterfly with a chequered body, was corrected in white paint (which has gone brown and black), and crossed out.

See further details in Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website.

Conservation History

Although cut off at the top, the drawing on the verso is the same way up as that on the recto. A small butterfly proof was stuck on the card-weight paper on the recto to show the proposed scale. There are pinholes at the top corners and to left of centre, and lower left and bottom right.

History

Provenance

• 1920: sold on 16 April by Albert Louis Roullier (1858-1920), art dealer, Chicago, to Walter Stanton Brewster (1872-1954);
• 1933: given to the Art Institute of Chicago.

The earlier provenance is unknown. See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1561).

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. 1561) as 'r.: and v.: Butterfly'.

Authored by Whistler

• Whistler, James McNeill, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict, Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899, p. xii.

Websites

• Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 47).
• 'Cats. 40–47 Butterflies and Club: Tombstone,' in Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago (The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020) URL, (cat. no. 47) as 'Butterfly (recto); Study of Butterfly (verso)'.