The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Sketchbook dates from 1901.

Ships in the harbour, sketchbook (p. 29), The Hunterian

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1693).

Images

Subject

Description

Pp. 1-2, 99-100, 119-20 have been removed from the sketchbook but illegible traces of pen drawings remain on pp. 1-2 and 99-100.

Man’s head, sketchbook (p. 3), The Hunterian

p. 3: Man's head, crayon; ink blot in corner.

Boy, sketchbook (p. 7), The Hunterian

p. 7: Boy, a boy in a jacket, scarf and wide brimmed hat, pencil.

Ships in the harbour, sketchbook (p. 29), The Hunterian

p. 29: Ships in the harbour, pencil. The bay of Ajaccio is set in a mountainous coastline. The rigging of a sailing vessel is seen on the right, another yacht in the harbour, several figures on the shore in the foreground, one riding, all lightly and quickly sketched in. Clouds shadowing the distant hills across the bay were drawn using a heavier pencil. The pencil lines have been smudged to indicate dark areas on the sea and pick out a yacht and another ship.

Man, sketchbook (p. 49), The Hunterian

p. 49: Man. A man, roughly clad, feet and head omitted, side on, pencil. Possibly a fisherman, like the men pulling on a rope on p. 73.

House, sketchbook (p. 58), The Hunterian

p. 58: House, pencil. A faint drawing of a single storey house.

Girl by a window, sketchbook (p. 60), The Hunterian

p. 60: Girl by a window, pencil. A bold, unfinished sketch of a girl sitting in front of a window. The effect of the light coming from behind her head is subtly done, indicating general tones rather than detail. A tall, turreted house with a small dome is seen across the street . This is the central page in the sketchbook, and it is a bit loose.

The port of Ajaccio, sketchbook (p. 69), The Hunterian

p. 69: The Port of Ajaccio, pencil. Signed with butterfly. A view over a low wall across the bay to the town and hills beyond. Clouds cast shadows over the hills. Details of windows, roofs, and church towers were carefully drawn. The grey of the sea was delicately rubbed in. The mountains in the distance are Monte d'Oru, and on the right, probably Monte Renosu. On the right is the clock tower of the church of St Erasmus. The dome and clocktower of the cathedral in Ajaccio are clearly shown, with the seminary, now destroyed, in front of it.

Fishermen hauling on ropes, Ajaccio, sketchbook (p. 73), The Hunterian

p. 73: Fishermen hauling on ropes, Ajaccio, pencil. Signed with butterfly. On the beach, three men in baggy pullovers and knee length trousers, pull a rope, while a fourth, on the left, coils it up. Figures watch them from a high wall on the left. It is a quick and rather clumsy sketch of figures in action.

A corner of the port, Ajaccio, sketchbook (p. 77), The Hunterian

p. 77: A corner of the port, Ajaccio, pencil. Whistler sketched a walled garden with a house and tall trees (see r.: Blue and Silver: Morning - Ajaccio; v.: Building and trees m1694). The shadows of clouds pass across the high hills behind. In front of the wall, there seems to be an urn, on the left, a street lamp, near the wall, and some figures on the right. The sketch was scratchily and hurriedly done, with many unsatisfactory shapes.

Male nude, sketchbook (p. 92), The Hunterian

p. 92: Male nude, seen from front, leaning at the top towards another figure, pencil. Two figures were enclosed in a frame, a nude, drawn tentatively , with a dimly seen figure on the right. This could be a design for Pear's soap (see Adam and Eve m1697). This and subsequent drawings are drawn the opposite way up from earlier drawings in the sketchbook: that is, the sketchbook has been opened and drawings started from the back.

Two nudes, sketchbook (p. 94), The Hunterian

p. 94: Two nudes, pencil. This drawing of two nudes in a frame is less finished than that on p. 92. The left nude could be male, side on, facing the right hand one who is seen frontally. This could be another Pear's soap design (see Adam and Eve m1697).

Study of a face, sketchbook (p. 96), The Hunterian

p. 96: Study of a face (eyes and cheek), pen and brown ink.

hair standing on end, sketchbook (p. 98), The Hunterian

p. 98: Hair standing on end, pen and brown ink.

A face, and a man on a horse, sketchbook (p. 118), The Hunterian

p. 118: A face, and a man on a horse, crayon and pencil.

Site

The port of Ajaccio, sketchbook (p. 69), The Hunterian

Ajaccio, Corsica, photograph, 1895/1900, private collection

A corner of the port, Ajaccio, sketchbook (p. 77), The Hunterian

The subjects include views of the port of Ajaccio, principal town in the French island of Corsica.

Technique

Technique

The port of Ajaccio, sketchbook (p. 69), The Hunterian

The drawigs are all in graphite pencil. See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1693)

Conservation History

Front cover, sketchbook, The Hunterian

Man’s head, sketchbook (p. 3), The Hunterian

Back cover, sketchbook, The Hunterian

Paper edge of sketchbook, The Hunterian

This was a cheap exercise book, and is battered and soiled, with some pages coming loose.

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

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. 1693) as 'Sketchbook'.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Prélude à Whistler, Centre culturel américain, Paris, 1961 (cat. no. 16).

Journals 1906-Present

• MacInnes, Margaret F., [M. F. MacDonald], 'Whistler's Last Years: Spring 1901 - Algiers and Corsica', Gazette des beaux-arts, vol. 73, 1969, pp. 323-42, repr. figs. 7-8.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.