The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The sketchbook dates from the Spring of 1901, and most if not all the sketches were drawn in Ajaccio, the capital of Corsica, where Whistler stayed at the Hotel Schweizerhof (Boulevard Sylvestre Marcaggi), today the seat of the Bishop of Ajaccio.

Front cover, sketchbook, The Hunterian

The sketchbook is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1666).

Images

Subject

Description

Front cover, sketchbook, The Hunterian

Front endpapers, sketchbook, The Hunterian

Gilt edge, sketchbook, The Hunterian

Notebook with cardboard cover, covered with paper having a printed flower pattern of white daisies with yellow centres, and green leaves, on a dark red background; inside cover, paper with white and purple trompe l'oeuil cube pattern; held closed by a purple plaited band.

One side of the paper has a neat slight chequered grain, the other a matt surface. The paper is very browned, with gilt edges. The squares are under 4mm. Inside cover: Inscribed 'Aj' [Ajaccio?].

Hat?, sketchbook (p. 1), The Hunterian

p. 1: Hat? Pencil. Inscribed with draft of a letter to Inez Eleanor Addams (1874-1958): 'pour completer par leur présence la belle céremonie et recevoir les adieux étonnés des éleves .' ¹ Inez Addams was Whistler's apprentice and Massière of the Académie Carmen in Paris, which was closed, on Whistler's instructions, in 1901. The letter was written over a big round shape, shaded, possibly a hat, which had been rubbed.

Lady at Dinner, sketchbook (p. 3), The Hunterian

p. 3: Lady at dinner. ² Pen and black ink. Areas below the plate, and at top right, were scraped out carefully and reworked (but the grid of blue lines came off with the drawing).

Seated woman wearing a large hat, sketchbook (p. 7), The Hunterian

p. 6: Draft of letter to Lady Skinner. ³

p. 7: Seated woman wearing a large hat. Pencil. A very faint drawing, with an element of caricature.

Three lines, sketchbook (p. 9), The Hunterian

p. 9: Three lines, possible the beginning of a drawing of a head. Pencil.

Woman leaning her head on her hand, sketchbook (p. 11), The Hunterian

p. 11: Woman leaning her head on her hand. Pencil. Signed with butterfly. A weak drawing, with diagonal shading.

Man’s head and shoulders, sketchbook (p. 13), The Hunterian

p. 13: Man’s head and shoulders. Pencil. Another faint sketch.

Man’s head, sketchbook (p. 14), The Hunterian

p. 14: Man’s head. Pencil. A summary sketch, face on.

Donkeys pulling a cart, sketchbook (p. 17), The Hunterian

p. 17: Donkeys pulling a cart. Pencil. Drawn with a hard sharp pencil.

Flowering plant in a pot, sketchbook (back endpaper), The Hunterian

Inside back cover: Flowering plant in a pot. Pencil.

Site

Ajaccio, Corsica.

Sitter

Lady at Dinner, sketchbook (p. 3), The Hunterian

There are a number of drawings of this woman (A lady reciting m1661, Woman in profile left m1662, and A lady seated, reciting m1663) but she has not been identified.

Technique

Technique

Woman leaning her head on her hand, sketchbook (p. 11), The Hunterian

Lady at Dinner, sketchbook (p. 3), The Hunterian

Most of the drawings, some very incomplete, are in pencil, and a couple of more elaborate ones in pen and ink.

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death, and bequeathed to his ward and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) ;
• 1958: bequeathed by Miss R. 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. 1666) as 'Sketchbook'.

Books, General

• MacDonald, Margaret F., Whistler's Mother's Cook Book, London, 1979, p. 51, repr.

Websites

• The Hunterian, University of Glasgow website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.