The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist probably dates from 1879, possibly after the completion of another portrait of Connie, Harmony in Yellow and Gold: The Gold Girl - Connie Gilchrist y190, which was exhibited in May 1879. Connie's face is similar in both paintings.

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

Harmony in Yellow and Gold: The Gold Girl – Connie Gilchrist, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist was probably the painting mentioned as 'blue girl' by Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890) in August 1879 and as 'the Blue Girl (Connie)' by Whistler in March of the following year. ¹

Images

Subject

Titles

Various titles have been recorded, as follows:

• 'the blue girl' (1879, C. A. Howell). ²
• 'the Blue Girl (Connie)' (1880, Whistler). ³
• 'blue Girl … Connie Gilchrist in blue' (1880, Whistler). ⁴
• 'Unfinished Portrait of Connie Gilchrist' (1936, Glasgow University). ⁵
• 'The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist' (1980, YMSM). ⁶

'The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist' is the generally accepted title.

Description

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

A full-length portrait of a girl, in vertical format. She has shoulder-length brown hair, cut in a deep fringe across her forehead. She stands in three-quarter view to left, and looks at the viewer. She wears a very pale blue dress with a white surcoat trimmed in blue. The narrow white sleeves have blue shoulder puffs. A frill, possibly lace, trims a high neckline. The skirt is knee length. She stands on her left leg (her left foot is practically invisible), with her right leg reaching forward. Her right arm is stretched out in front of her but almost lost in shadows. Her left arm hangs at her side but the hand is non-existent. The floor is a light beige with dark shadows, and the background is very dark.

Sitter

Samuel Alex Walker, Connie Gilchrist, 1880, carte de visite, Victoria and Albert Museum S.135:398-2007

Connie Gilchrist (1864-1946).

According to the Pennells, Connie Gilchrist posed for 'the old scheme of "blue upon blue" ' (see Annabel Lee y079). ⁷ Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) also stated that Whistler began a 'Blue Girl' with Connie Gilchrist as model. ⁸

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

Harmony in Yellow and Gold: The Gold Girl – Connie Gilchrist, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Connie's fragile beauty is conveyed far more successfully than in a more finished portrait, Harmony in Yellow and Gold: The Gold Girl - Connie Gilchrist y190.

Comments

The first 'blue girl' is said to have been Annabel Lee y079: a woman in pale blue robes of no particular historical style or fashion.

This was followed by The Blue Girl: Portrait of Miss Elinor Leyland y111 and The Blue Girl: Maud Franklin y112. In both cases the model – Elinor Leyland (1861-1952), and Maud Franklin (1857-1939) respectively – was dressed in something approaching contemporary dress, possibly chosen, designed, or revised by Whistler. The portrait of Connie Gilchrist was undoubtedly, as the Pennells stated, a reworking of this 'Blue Girl' theme. ⁹

Technique

Composition

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

There are numerous revisions to the composition. Her right arm and hand have been almost scraped out. There is no sign of her left hand but a swirl of dark blue paint suggests Whistler originally intended that she should hold a hat. The background is very thinly painted – or scrubbed – but there are hints of a longer skirt, below her feet.

It is possible that it was reworked briefly by Whistler with another model. It is also possible that the portrait was painted over another figure.

The Blue Girl, Freer Gallery of Art

The design of Connie's dress and its colour (the pale turquoise/blue dress with a blued-white over-dress, the little cream ruff, and puffed sleeves) look similar to Whistler's pastel study, r.: The Blue Girl; v.: Curtain m0521, for The Blue Girl: Portrait of Miss Elinor Leyland y111. The dress reappears in various guises, as Whistler returned to the subject for the next twenty years.

Harmony in Blue and Violet: Miss Finch, The Hunterian

Later related works include Scherzo in Blue: The Blue Girl y226, Harmony in Coral and Blue: Miss Finch y237, and Harmony in Blue and Violet: Miss Finch y239. The last 'blue girl' was probably Blue and Coral: The Little Blue Bonnet y500. All of these include echoes and revisions of the 1870s dresses.

Technique

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

The canvas is of a fine plain weave. It was prepared with an off-white ground layer and there are traces in the upper left quadrant of a thin blue underlayer. ¹⁰

Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913) commented that Whistler began a 'Blue Girl' with Connie Gilchrist as model 'but had, perhaps, only one sitting.' ¹¹ The freshness and spontaneity of the brushwork suggest that it was painted in very few sittings, but the signs of rubbing out and alterations are evidence of several sittings. The Hunterian website commented:

'Whistler must have prepared the full composition of blue tones on his palette before applying them – diluted and with great speed – onto the fine weave canvas. There is rubbing down in the light blue of Connie's dress and in the lower section of the painting.' ¹²

Given that the stretcher bears the stamp of Blanchet in Paris, it is possible that the canvas was either bought in Paris or – more likely – was at some time in Whistler's Paris studio.

Conservation History

The canvas was extended at the top and bottom by about 1 cm, and was poorly paste-lined, resulting in an uneven, pitted surface. The paint has faded slightly, except under the frame. The paint, already thin, is also abraded. There is some blanching on or beneath the varnish. However, the overall condition of the picture is stable. ¹³

Frame

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, frame detail

Portrait Whistler frame, dating from ca 1878, 202.5 x 101.0 x 7.3 cm. It bears the stamp of Emile Blanchet (1852-1931) on the verso of the stretcher, 'BLANCHET / RUE SAINT BENOIT / PARIS'. ¹⁴

History

Provenance

• 1878: in Whistler's studio;
• 1879, 7 May: Whistler's assets, as declared by James Waddell, the Receiver appointed by The London Bankruptcy Court, included 'Two unfinished Pictures at Mr Whistler's house, 28 Wimpole St Cavendish Square';
• 1880: Waddell, the Receiver, had 'retained' the painting, but the Trustees, Frederick Richards Leyland (1832-1892) and Thomas Way (1837-1915), failed to agree on whether it should be sold or returned;
• 1880/1881: the Blue Girl could have been returned by the Receiver, James Waddell, to Whistler, or passed to a creditor;
• 1903: either the painting, returned to Whistler after his bankruptcy, remained in his studio until his death, and was bequeathed to his sister-in-law and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• OR, in 1903, or some time thereafter: the painting was returned, by someone unknown, to Miss R. Birnie Philip;
• 1935: given by Miss R. Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist, The Hunterian

Bankruptcy: The history of this painting at the time of Whistler's bankruptcy is not clear. At that time there were (or had been) at least three versions of his 'Blue Girl' composition, with various models including Elinor Leyland (1861-1952), Maud Franklin (1857-1939), and Connie Gilchrist.

Whistler's assets, as declared by James Waddell, the Receiver appointed by The London Bankruptcy Court, included 'Two unfinished Pictures at Mr Whistler's house, 28 Wimpole St Cavendish Square', and he added that 'In their present unfinished state I am unable to estimate them to be of any value.' ¹⁵ On 25 August, Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890) asked Whistler to 'state "distinctly and in writing" what you will give in work if I secure for you – the Connie … and the blue girl', however, as far as is known, he did not secure it from Whistler's creditors or James Waddell. ¹⁶ Whistler expected a 'Blue Girl' to be included in his bankruptcy auction but he was told that although 'the Blue Girl (Connie)' was 'carried off by auctioneers', it was missing. ¹⁷ In March 1880, a destroyed or unfinished 'blue Girl' was legitimately stored in Whistler's brother's house in Wimpole Street, but Whistler asserted that 'this is not the blue Girl missing - Connie Gilchrist in blue ... that I ... hope certainly to trace' and he suggested that Matthew Robinson Elden (1839-1885) should tell the Receiver, James Waddell, 'all that John had said about the departure of the … Connie in blue … from the White House upon an Auctioneers order'. ¹⁸ It appeared that Waddell, the Receiver, had 'retained' the painting, rather than send it to auction, but the Trustees, Frederick Richards Leyland (1832-1892) and Thomas Way (1837-1915), failed to agree on whether it should be sold or returned to the artist. ¹⁹

Correspondence: After his bankruptcy, Whistler departed for Venice, attempting to maintain contact through reports from his brother, sister-in-law, friends, creditors, and lawyers. The subsequent confusion is reflected in his correspondence, reproduced below. Whistler wrote from Venice to his sister-in-law, Helen ('Nellie') Euphrosyne Whistler (1849-1917):

'I don't quite know what to say about the Waddell matter … First - you say which of the three pictures are the two to be shown - and then you only speak of "the 3 girls, and the Boy or Girl in blue" - does this mean 3 pictures, or are you uncertain as to the sex of my arrangement in Blue. If 3 - then by all means show the Three Girls - and the Blue Girl - and not the Boy - Now I dont quite understand how you have these at all, for I certainly believed that I had moved both the 3 girls and the Blue Girl back from Wimpole Street to the White House and left them there for the sale - They were not at the sale I know from what both Way and Elden have written[.] Were they then sent back? - If so, and with Waddell's permission, (and only with his could they have come away) what more can he have to say about it at all - … According to [Elden] you see that the 3 Girls and the Blue Girl (Connie) … etc - were carried off by auctioneers - and have been since missing - … Again if the original 3 girls be in your possession, then say that Waddell may have them if Lewis thinks so as also the blue Connie - If there be any other blue girl ( - Miss Franklin for instance) then that is not their affair - surely Waddell said that all the scratched and destroyed stretchers &c &c &c were to be left out.' ²⁰

In March 1880 he wrote again, suggesting that his brother, William McNeill Whistler (1836-1900), should make an appointment to see the Receiver appointed by the Bankruptcy Court, James Waddell (1838-1892):

'Then he can take him to Wimpole Street and … show him the blue Girl and explain that this with the other rags and destroyed canvases were left in the studio and brought finally to you by his direction or permission - But he will want nothing of the kind though it is at his disposal, if you clearly make him understand that this is not the blue Girl missing - Connie Gilchrist in blue - in short that these are not the pictures he is after - that I am after also - and hope certainly to trace - and urge him to do his best - Let Elden go with Willie - he can tell him … all that John had said about the departure of the … Connie in blue … &c - from the White House upon an Auctioneers order - The man in pos[s]ession (Watson) could also tell the story.' ²¹

And on 12 April 1880 the artist Matthew Robinson Elden (1839-1885) wrote to Whistler,

'about the lost pictures - Waddell it turns out had reserved them as being valueless & I suppose with the intention of returning them to you - however the enquiries made particularly by Hermon [sic] - brought forth this acknowledgement and at the meeting on Thursday last Way & Leyland - the only Trustees present [-] the canvasses in dispute were unrolled … nothing was settled and the meeting adjourned - Way sent for me and his position is that these things must be put up for sale.' ²²

The 'Hermon' referred to was Louis Herrman (b. 1810 or 1811), who had an art gallery at 60 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, and had lent Whistler money.

However, the painting of Connie did not go to auction and it is not clear when or if it was returned to Whistler, or, after his death, to his executor Miss R. Birnie Philip.

Exhibitions

The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

By the terms of Miss R. Birnie Philip's gift to the University of Glasgow, it is not lendable.

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. 207), plate 156, as 'The Blue Girl: Portrait of Connie Gilchrist'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 1, p. 303.
• Sutton, Denys, Nocturne: The Art of James McNeill Whistler, London, 1963, p. 77.
• Way, Thomas Robert, Memories of James McNeill Whistler, the Artist, London and New York, 1912, p. 30.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Spencer, Robin, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1969 (cat. no. 79) (not exhibited).
• Ormond, Richard and Leonée, The Victorian High Renaissance, City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1978, p. 115 (not exhibited).

Journals 1906-Present

• James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1936 (cat. no. 24).

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk/#/details/ecatalogue/41060.
• 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. 146).

Other

• Parkerson, Sarah Lawrence, Variations in Gold: The Stylistic Development of the Picture Frames used by James McNeill Whistlers, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2007.