The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 358
Maud
Date
A portrait of Maud probably dates from 1886. 1
The artist Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942), who was working closely with Whistler in the 1880s, particularly between 1884 and 1887, wrote that he had seen Whistler at work on several portraits of 'Maud'. 2
Whistler and Portrait of Maud Franklin, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/120
J. B. Partridge, Caricature of Whistler as Harmony in Black, No. 10, from unidentified press cutting, GUL PC 3, p. 116
The portraits of Maud Franklin (1857-1939) seen by Sickert were probably Portrait of Maud Franklin y353, Harmony in Black, No. 10 y357, and the painting under discussion, Maud y358. None of these have been located.
Around 1886 Whistler recorded two portraits of Maud as potentially available for exhibition: 'Maud - fur jacket' and 'Maud - green scarf.' 3 The first of these was Arrangement in Black and Brown: The Fur Jacket y181, and the other was presumably likewise a life-size full-length portrait and possibly the painting under discussion here, Maud y358.
Maud and Whistler parted in 1888 when he married Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896), so after that date Maud could not have posed to Whistler.
Images
Maud, Whereabouts unknown
Whistler and Portrait of Maud Franklin, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/120
J. B. Partridge, Caricature of Whistler as Harmony in Black, No. 10, from unidentified press cutting, GUL PC 3, p. 116
Subject
Titles
Two possible titles have been suggested:
- Possibly 'Maud - green scarf' (1886/1892, Whistler). 4
- 'Maud' (1980, YMSM). 5
Description
Unknown.
In an undated list Whistler recorded a portrait of Maud Franklin as 'Maud - green scarf', but there is no other record of this painting. 6
Sitter
Maud Franklin (1857-1939), who had posed for many of Whistler's most important portraits, including Arrangement in Black and Brown: The Fur Jacket y181 and Arrangement in White and Black y185.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.
In an undated list Whistler recorded two portraits of Maud as potentially available for exhibition: 'Maud - fur jacket - / Maud - green scarf.' 7 This may have been related to plans for an exhibition of Whistler's work at the Royal Society of British Artists, which were quashed by Whistler's resignation from the RBA in 1888.
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. 358) as 'Maud'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- None.
Journals 1855-1905
- None.
Monographs
- None.
Books on Whistler
- None.
Books, General
- Robins, Anna Gruetzner (ed.), Walter Sickert: the Complete Writings on Art, Oxford, 2000, pp. 194-96.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- None.
Journals 1906-Present
- Sickert, Walter R., 'Where Paul and I differ', Art News, No. 14, 10 February 1910, p. 113.
Websites
- None.
Unpublished
- None.
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 358).
2: Sickert, Walter R., 'Where Paul and I differ', Art News, No. 14, 10 February 1910, p. 113.
3: Whistler, list, [1886/1887], formerly dated [4/11 January 1892], GUW #06795. A reference to 'Mrs Godwin' in the list confirms a date before his marriage in 1888. The list was not, as originally thought, intended for D. C. Thomson.
4: Whistler, list, [1886/1887], formerly dated [4/11 January 1892], GUW #06795.
5: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 358).
6: Whistler, [1886/1887], GUW #06795, op. cit.
7: [1886/1887], formerly dated [4/11 January 1892], GUW #06795.