The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 259
Yellow and Grey
Date
Yellow and Grey probably dates from 1883 or 1884. 1
It was exhibited in Whistler's one-man show 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 43).
Images
Yellow and Grey, Whereabouts unknown
Pink Note – The Novelette, Freer Gallery of Art
Harmony in Violet and Amber, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Titles
Only one title is known:
- 'Yellow and grey' (1884, Dowdeswell). 2
- 'Yellow and Grey' (1980, YMSM). 3
Description
The Builder described the subject as the figure of 'a girl standing before a background of yellow, ... charming in attitude.' 4 The Standard described the colours in more detail: 'a girl in yellowish grey raiment, just touched with vivid green – she stands in front of a blazing greenish-yellow background'. 5
Sitter
Possibly Maud Franklin (1857-1939) or Millie Finch (fl. 1875-1885).
Technique
Technique
It is possible this was a watercolour although in the 1884 catalogue it is described as an oil.
The Builder compared it with two watercolours in the exhibition and added:
'These figures are very slightly sketched, ... but... there is good drawing underlying their shadowy similitude; ... "Yellow and Grey" ... is charming in attitude and in the masterly indication of the figure.' 6
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
- 1884: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 43) as 'Yellow and grey'.
- 1884: possibly Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures & Photography: A Loan Collection of Pictures by Mr Whistler ..., Dublin Sketching Club, Dublin, 1884 (cat. no. 233).
The Builder compared this painting with two watercolours in the Dowdeswell exhibition (cat. nos. 16, 19) although, according to the catalogue, it was an oil:
'These figures are very slightly sketched, and their faces will certainly not bear looking close at; but they nearly all have character in pose, and show that there is good drawing underlying their shadowy similitude; one in particular, "Yellow and Grey" (43), a girl standing before a background of yellow, is charming in attitude and in the masterly indication of the figure.' 7
Pink Note – The Novelette, Freer Gallery of Art
Harmony in Violet and Amber, Freer Gallery of Art
The two watercolours to which it was compared are Pink note - The Novelette m0900 and Harmony in violet and amber m0906.
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. 259) as 'Yellow and Grey'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 43) as 'Yellow and grey'.
- Possibly Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures & Photography: A Loan Collection of Pictures by Mr Whistler ..., Dublin Sketching Club, Dublin, 1884 (cat. no. 233).
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Mr. Whistler's Exhibition', The Standard, London, 19 May 1884, p. 2.
Journals 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Mr Whistler's Exhibition', The Builder, London, 24 May 1884.
Monographs
- None.
Books on Whistler
- None.
Books, General
- None.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- Myers, Kenneth John, Mr. Whistler’s Gallery: Pictures at an 1884 Exhibition, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2003, p. 82, 92, repr. p. 31.
Journals 1906-Present
- None.
Websites
- None.
Unpublished
- Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 371-72).
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 259).
2: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 43).
3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 259).
4: Builder, 24 May 1884.
5: Standard, London, 19 May 1884. Press cuttings in GUL Whistler PC 6, p. 9.
6: Builder, 24 May 1884.
7: Anon., 'Mr Whistler's Exhibition', The Builder, London, 24 May 1884.