The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Harmony in White and Blue may date from between 1872 and 1874, but it is not certain that, in its present form, it was painted or signed by Whistler. ¹ This date is principally based on a certain similarity in dress and signature to Whistler's Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs Louis Huth y125, to the matting in Harmony in Grey and Peach Colour y131, and flowers in Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander y129.

Harmony in White and Blue, Leeds Art Gallery

Arrangement in Black, No. 2: Portrait of Mrs Louis Huth, Private Collection

The butterfly signature in Harmony in White and Blue is faint and may date from an early stage in the painting: it has clearly been rubbed or scraped down. It is just possible that this butterfly was on the original painting but it would seem odd, if Whistler was scraping down the picture, that he would leave the signature visible at all. The butterfly appears to be on a rectangular cartouche or field, but that does not have a precise outline: the repainted background has been painted up to and around a thinly painted rectangular area. The butterfly itself appears to have been lightly retouched, and there are some small meaningless brushstrokes around the area of the cartouche.

The painting could have been among canvases 'more or less destroyed' according to Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), by Whistler, at the time of his bankruptcy in 1879. ²

It could have been scraped down by the artist at the time of his bankruptcy, rolled up, and later finally repaired and reworked by another hand, by 1910 (see TECHNIQUE and HISTORY; see also Arrangement in Flesh Colour and Grey: The Chinese Screen y051). However, what is now visible does not, on the whole, look like Whistler's technique. It is possible that it is the work of another artist, working on a composition and in a style influenced by Whistler. A very likely candidate is Walter Greaves (1846-1930), who undoubtedly worked on restoring a number of canvases mistakenly attributed to Whistler in 1910.

Images

Subject

Titles

The original title is not known, and only one later title is known:

• 'Harmony in White and Blue' (1945, Sir Philip Anstiss Hendy (1900-1980)). ³
• 'Harmony in White and Blue' (1980, YMSM). ⁴

Description

Harmony in White and Blue, Leeds Art Gallery

A portrait of a woman in a white dress, in vertical format. She stands with her body facing left, hands clasped in front of her, her head slightly bent, looking at the viewer. She has dark hair, with a small bun arranged high at the back of her head. Her dress has a fitted bodice, and narrow sleeves, trimmed with lace or a ruffle. The skirt falls into a long train swept forward towards the viewer. She stands on a white and dark blue chequered carpet or tiles, in front of a pale blue/grey background. At left there is a long thin vertical green panel, and at right a vertical blue cartouche bearing a butterfly signature. Down the right edge there are a few sprigs of blossom.

Sitter

Harmony in White and Blue, Leeds Art Gallery

The identity of the sitter is not known.

It was definitely not Whistler's step-sister, Deborah Delano Haden (1825-1908), as suggested by the Pennells. ⁵ Most of Whistler's 'Women in White' are portraits of Joanna Hiffernan (b. ca 1843-d.1886) or Maud Franklin (1857-1939). This, however, is not part of the series.

W Greaves, The Green Dress, Tate Britain

If, as is possible, the painting was painted or repaired by Walter Greaves (1846-1930), then the model could be one of his sisters. His portrait, The Green Dress (ca 1875, Tate NO4599) shows a model who has slightly similar features.

Formerly attributed to J. McN. Whistler, Young woman in a white dress, Singer Memorial Museum, Laren

Another portrait of uncertain lineage, Young woman in a white dress y126b, shows a woman who bears a certain resemblance to the portrait under discussion, though this is by no means certain.

Comments

After its purchase in 1944 the painting was exhibited in Temple Newsam House, Leeds, and Sir Philip Anstiss Hendy (1900-1980), Director of Leeds City Art Gallery, commented, 'I cannot understand this picture ever getting attributed to Greaves. With all its weaknesses as a picture, it is an exceptionally fine portrait, with the very aristocratic flavour which Whistler had at his best.' ⁶

Technique

Technique

Harmony in White and Blue, Leeds Art Gallery

The 1980 catalogue raisonné stated: 'Although it is clear that it has been scraped down, probably by Whistler, and reworked, probably by other hands, it was originally a work by him.' (cat. no. 126). This is by no means certain, since what is actually visible now (2020), does not look like the work of Whistler.

It was thinly painted, and there are signs of pentimenti, though whether these were by another painter or restorer is not known. The skirt was originally much wider at the right, possibly with a bow behind her waist. It is possible that the face was a later addition, the original head having been rubbed out. In its current condition, the technique is unlike Whistler's usual work.

The small butterfly, very thinly painted and lightly touched up, is somewhat similar to Whistler's signature from the early 1870s. It appears from a distance to be on a cartouche, but this is an illusion created by the overpainting of the background, which stops short of a rectangular field surrounding the butterfly.

Further technical investigation of this painting might ascertain if underneath what can be seen today (2020) there is a rubbed down painting by Whistler, and also see if it has any connection with another multiply reworked portrait, Young woman in a white dress y126b.

Conservation History

On 15 September 1910 Dowdeswell, a London art dealer, took Whistler's biographers, Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) and Joseph Pennell (1860-1926), to a man 'in a remote part of Camden Town, who is restoring a few' of the canvases, and they were shown an unsigned portrait:

'[A] woman, middle-aged with black hair drawn rather tightly back, in a white muslin gown, date I should say the Sixties, standing against a white background with at the bottom a low dado of blue-and-white (tiles or matting) with a long green stroke of the brush on one side and two touches of blue on the other, very Whistler, and not much tampered with by the restorer though he was thinking of cleaning away the strokes of green and blue.' ⁷

According to Sir Philip Anstiss Hendy, Director of the Leeds City Art Gallery, it had been rolled up and 'in order to cover the resulting cracks, a good deal of inferior painting had been done on the dress.' ⁸ Hendy also wrote that 'Our picture also had been rolled up and probably sat on after wards - by the look of it ... The recent cleaning was done by Ruhemann, who is a man of considerable knowledge and judgment.' ⁹

Harmony in White and Blue, photograph, 1947

Harmony in White and Blue, Leeds Art Gallery

A comparison of photographs taken in 1947 and recently, reproduced above, does not reveal any notable changes, such differences as exist probably being due to different lighting and photographic methods.

A conservation report from Leeds City Art Gallery in 2019 notes that there are multiple areas of overpaint covering older damage, some abrasion to the paint layers at the model's hair, and a scratch at the lower right corner. The thick natural resin varnish is discoloured.

Frame

The machine-cut gilded wooden frame probably dates from 1910.

History

Provenance

• 1910: it was one of 'about fifty' canvases sold by Walter Thomas Spencer (1864-1936), a second-hand bookseller at 27 New Oxford Street, to Messrs Dowdeswell, London art dealers, in September 1910;
• 1910: seen by Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) and Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) on 15 September 1910, when Dowdeswell took them to a man in Camden Town who was restoring some canvases.
• 1944: according to the London art dealer, Max de Beer (1898-1974), he bought it from the heirs of a London collector and sold it to Leeds City Art Gallery in 1944.

Exhibitions

Three early exhibition records stuck on the reverse of the painting are unsatisfactory, to say the least. One label reads 'GROSVENOR GALLERY / PICTURE EXHIBITION.' with the 'Title of Picture' written as 'Harmony in white & blue', but it cannot be found in the exhibition catalogues of the Grosvenor Gallery.

Another label is for the 'London International Exhibition Society / FOUNDED .. 1881 /... UNITED ART GALLERY'. The United Arts Gallery (not Art) was founded in a new building at 116 New Bond Street by the London International Exhibition Society in 1881 to encourage young artists 'by affording them facilities for study in the great Continental academies, supplying them with grants of money.' ¹⁰ It was a short-lived venue, with exhibitions of mainly European works in 1881 and 1882, after which, due to the illness of the manager, the lease was transferred to Messrs Goupil in 1882, and the remaining stock sold at auction by Messrs Foster on 18 April 1883. ¹¹

Another label on the painting suggests that it was in an exhibition shortly after Whistler's death in 1903, but no record of this exhibition has been found and Whistler's name is misspelt. The label appears to be a forgery: it reads as follows:

'EXHIBITION / OF / PAINTINGS, WATERCOLOURS, PASTELS, ETCHINGS / and LITHOGRAPHS, / BY THE LATE JAMES McNIELL [sic] WHISTLER / First President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers.'

A similar combination of labels is seen on several paintings that were formerly attributed to Whistler, including Young woman in a white dress y126b, which bears a certain family resemblance to this portrait. Some of these similarly labelled canvasses may have been based on paintings destroyed by Whistler, and reworked by other hands, but others appear to have nothing to do with Whistler at all.

It is possible that Walter Greaves (1846-1930) was involved in the 'repair', 'restoration' or repainting of these canvases. Several of them, however, do not appear to have anything to do with Whistler at all.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 126), plate 79, as 'Harmony in White and Blue'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Way, Thomas Robert, Memories of James McNeill Whistler, the Artist, London and New York, 1912, p. 136.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Whistler Journal, Philadelphia, 1921, pp. 127-29.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• None.

Journals 1906-Present

• None.

Websites

• Art UK website at https://artuk.org.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 103).

Other

• None.