The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian was worked on over several years. It may have been started in 1891, and while the costume indicates a date between 1892 and 1894, the signature suggests a date of 1894 or later, and the painting was definitely completed in 1900.

Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian, National Gallery of Art

1888/1889: The art dealer Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) described it as 'a portrait of Mrs. Whibley, painted shortly after he married her sister & was done in Chelsea.' ¹ This note was written many years later, in 1900 or later; it suggests a date after the marriage of Whistler and Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896) in August 1888, but cannot be considered completely reliable.

1891: In Whistler's London studio, Théodore Duret (1838-1927) saw an unfinished picture, possibly Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian, Red and Black: The Fan y388, or Harmony in Brown: The Felt Hat y395). ²

1892: Charles L. Drouet (1836-1908) wrote to Whistler in December: 'Si le costume Espagnol ne vous est plus utile, je vous serais très obligé de me l'envoyer.' ³ The 'costume Espagnol' may have been used for a fancy dress ball, or for this painting.

Spanish inspired dress, Lady's Pictorial, 4 November 1893

1892/1894: The actual dress worn by Ethel Whibley (1861-1920) in Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian was undoubtedly influenced by the contemporary fashion for Spanish-style costume during this period. ⁴

1894: Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) remembered seeing Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian with Red and Black: The Fan y388 and Rose et or: La Tulipe y418, which Whistler was painting at 110 rue du Bac in Paris. ⁵

1896: E. G. Kennedy asked the price of 'the full length figure ... in black or grey? How much cash – c-a-s-h.' ⁶ He got no immediate reply: in March the painting was in Paris, but, as Whistler wrote to Kennedy from London, 'I have sent for ... the Black and grey one - and you shall hear.' ⁷ Subsequently, Whistler wrote: 'The two full lengths - well I cannot let them go as they are now - I mean without doing any thing to them ... However I will see what I can do - and then think out a price.' ⁸ In June the artist reported progress on one of the full-lengths, possibly Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian:

'It has been sent home, relined & in delightful condition - If you let me alone and manage to restrain your feelings, (which you might know after all must be mild compared to the intense anxiety of the Artist who risks continually the ruin of his work) we will hope that you will finally get that Spanish lady safely into your collection.' ⁹

In a note on this same letter, Kennedy noted that 'Whistler had three full lengths of Mrs Whibley, one in black, one in grey & black & one in pink. I was to have the three when they were "complete".' ¹⁰ Then in September 1896 Kennedy was again pressing for the completion of the portraits of Ethel (now Mrs Whibley). ¹¹

1897: On 1 January Ethel Whibley herself wrote to E. G. Kennedy, regarding either Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian or Red and Black: The Fan y388: 'As soon as the picture is finished you shall have it and he will write soon to you himself.' ¹² In July Kennedy noted paying £1000 on account towards 'Full length figure of woman to complete the agreement of last year.' ¹³ Several months later Kennedy noted, 'Pictures (paintings) bought by E. G. Kennedy, from J. McN. Whistler, at different times & not yet received. / 4 full length portraits of a lady (Mrs. Whibley).' ¹⁴

1900: It was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. ¹⁵ Whistler told Kennedy 'one of them I have completed - the one that you said was in the "slate coloured dress" ... "Nacre et Argent", ["]l'Andalouse" ', but, he added, 'I don't think you ever cared very much for this "slate" coloured lady anyhow.' ¹⁶

Images

Subject

Titles

Various descriptive titles were used by Whistler and others, as follows:

• 'the girl ... in black or grey' (1896, E. G. Kennedy). ¹⁷
• 'the Black and grey one' (1896, Whistler). ¹⁸
• 'Spanish lady' (1896, Whistler). ¹⁹
• 'the one in black and mauve' (1896, E. G. Kennedy). ²⁰
• 'The "Andalouse" ' (1900, Whistler). ²¹
• 'Mother-of-Pearl and Silver - The Andalusian' or ' "Nacre et Argent", l'Andalouse' (1900, Exposition Universelle, Paris). ²²
• 'Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian' (1980, YMSM). ²³

'Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian' is based on the title used for the 1900 exhibition, with punctuation regularised to conform with other titles.

Description

Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian, National Gallery of Art

A full length portrait of a woman, in vertical format. She is seen from the back, standing, and turning slightly to the right, so that her face is in profile to right. At the bottom of the canvas, her skirt swirls around to the right. She has dark brown hair swept up into a bun, and a fringe that curves over her eyebrows. Her dress is grey ('silver') and tied at the back with a pale grey bow at the waist. The top of the dress is dark grey, close fitting, with a low rounded neckline, under a high-necked thin black gauze (or net) top. The three-quarter length sleeves are embellished with four lavish frills of this thin gauze. Her right arm hangs at her side, holding a scarf or gloves; her left arm is not visible. She stands on a grey/brown floor, leading to a warm grey/mauve wall: the wall recedes to left, as indicated by the diagonal line of the narrow skirting board from lower right to upper left. The painting is signed on the wall with a slightly darker butterfly at right.

Sitter

This is one of several portraits of Ethel Whibley (1861-1920). Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian was being painted at the same time as other portraits, including Red and Black: The Fan y388.

Whistler took a close interest in women's dress, and the clothes worn by Ethel Philip (Mrs Whibley) in his portraits follow the latest fashions. As she did not have a large income, they were probably copies of couture outfits, inspired by magazine illustration, and could have been made up by her dressmaker. ²⁴

The National Gallery of Art website comments:

'Ethel Birnie Philip, daughter of a sculptor, married in 1895. The next year saw the death of her sister, who was Whistler's wife. This elegant depiction of light gleaming in the dark, though, represents neither a bride nor a mourner. Whistler firmly stated, "Art should be independent of clap-trap – should stand alone, and appeal to the artistic sense of eye or ear, without confounding this with emotions entirely foreign to it, as devotion, pity, love, patriotism and the like." ' ²⁵

Comments

The National Gallery of Art website emphasized Whistler’s links with Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez (1599-1660):

'Whistler claimed to excel Diego Velazquez, the seventeenth-century master from Andalusia, Spain. What creates the somber, Spanish mood in Whistler's Andalusian are the haughty beauty's backward swerve as well as the cool grays and warm tans that shimmer through her gown's black net fabric. The outfit, however, is no more Spanish than the model. Her layered sleeves and chignon, fashionable internationally during the 1890s, are worn here by Whistler's English sister-in-law, Ethel Birnie Philip.' ²⁶

In fact Whistler never claimed to excel Velázquez, but he did comment ironically, when someone told him that he and Velasquez were the only two painters in the world, 'Why drag in Velasquez?' ²⁷

Furthermore, there are many aspects of the composition, treatment of paint and colour that are reminiscent not only of Velasquez, but of Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828). ²⁸

Technique

Composition

Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian, National Gallery of Art

Harmony in Flesh Colour and Black: Portrait of Mrs Louise Jopling, The Hunterian

The composition is a dramatic variation on a pose Whistler had used several times before, for instance in Symphony in Flesh Colour and Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland y106 and Harmony in Flesh Colour and Black: Portrait of Mrs Louise Jopling y191.

Technique

Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian, National Gallery of Art

The thin ground and thin washes of paint, alternating with rubbing and scraping down, rendered the heavy texture of the coarse weave canvas conspicuous in places, such as in the area above the bow at left, as well as softening and blurring contours on, for instance, her face.

There are pentimenti around her head (her bun may have been higher and larger, or placed more to left) and round her waist and the edges of her dress. Her skirt originally extended further left.

However, the final brushstrokes appear very fresh and directly painted, with few signs of re-working. Her right arm in particular is very clearly outlined. The paint used at her waist must have been very thin indeed, and some drips are visible below and to right of the bow.

Conservation History

It was relined at Whistler's request. In June 1896 Whistler wrote to E. G. Kennedy, probably about this painting, 'It has been sent home, relined & in delightful condition.' ²⁹

Sometimes Whistler had canvases relined with a thicker canvas so that the texture was further emphasized. Stephen Hackney commented that Whistler's later work 'illustrates this desire to express the canvas texture.' ³⁰

History

Provenance

• 1900: bought by Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) of Wunderlich's, New York art dealers;
• 1900: sold to John Howard Whittemore (1837-1910) , Naugatuck, MA;
• 1910: after John Howard Whittemore's death, passed to the J. H. Whittemore Company with a life-interest to his daughter, Gertrude Buckingham Whittemore (1874-1941);
• 1941: lent after her death to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC;
• 1943: presented to the National Gallery of Art by Harris Whittemore, Jr (1894-1974), President of the J. H. Whittemore Co., and his sister, Gertrude Spencer Whittemore (Mrs Charles Hiram Upson) (1903-1987), on behalf of the J. H. Whittemore Co.

1896: In February, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) of Wunderlich & Co., New York, asked the price of 'the girl ... in black or grey' but Whistler refused to consider selling it without doing further work on it. ³¹ In July, according to Kennedy, the portrait 'in grey and black' was one of three full-lengths in the Fitzroy Street studio that he was going to have when the hands were completed. ³²

E. G. Kennedy, and the firm he represented, H. Wunderlich & Co., were repeatedly frustrated by attempts to buy the portraits of Ethel Whibley. On 4 September 1896 the firm tried to clarify arrangements made in the summer between Kennedy and Whistler:

'The agreement is that he bought of you in the first place, the Smith, the little Rose and the portrait of Mrs. Whilby [sic], either the black one or the pink one, for £1500/-/-. Upon you saying: "You will give £2000/-/- for the four, I suppose," Mr. Kennedy said: "Yes, I will, but you will agree to finish the hands of the pink one, and complete the one in black and mauve to your satisfaction". When Mr. Kennedy was leaving England you said that you thought of giving the pink portrait to the Luxembourg gallery, but upon Mr. Kennedy showing that the lack of the pink portrait in America would embarrass him, you said that you would either let him have that one or paint another one similar.

Five hundred pounds was paid down to seal the bargain, and when we receive the one full length we shall pay £1000/-/-, two full length making £2000/-/- in all. It is understood by Mr. Kennedy that you would not put in the fourth picture at the price you did, except as a temptation to buy another.' ³³

Negotiations continued for several years. When Whistler finally completed the picture four years later he told E. G. Kennedy, who had never quite given up hope of obtaining one of the portraits:

'Now write at once and tell me what is our arrangement - if there be one that is after your own heart - about the full lengths - For, you see, one of them I have completed - the one that you said was in the "slate coloured dress" -

The picture is now hung on the walls of the American section - Exposition Universelle - looking very magnificent - and is called "Nacre et Argent", ["]l'Andalouse". - I ought to have a couple of thousand guineas for this work - Write me a line - I don't think you ever cared very much for this "slate" coloured lady anyhow.' ³⁴

The sale was settled and Kennedy agreed to let Whistler retain copyright; the artist arranged that after the Paris Exposition Universelle, 'L'Andalousienne' would be sent by Gauchard (dates unknown) in the rue Blanche to Gustave Lauser (b. ca 1841) in London, for shipment to New York; Kennedy noted that he had sold it to 'Mr Whittemore of Naugatuck', that is, John Howard Whittemore (1837-1910). ³⁵ However, Whittemore family records give a date of 6 January 1902 for the acquisition. ³⁶

Exhibitions

• 1900: Exposition Universelle, Grand Palais, Paris, 1900 (cat. no. 46); Fine Arts Exhibit of the United States of America (cat. no. 103) as 'Mother-of-Pearl and Silver – The Andalusian.'
• 1902: Seventy-first Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1902 (cat. no. 49) as 'The Andalusian'.
• 1902: Twenty-fourth Annual Exhibition, Society of American Artists, New York, 1902 (cat. no. 21) as 'L'Andalusienne'.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 46) as 'L'Andalusienne'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 25) as 'L'Andalouse'.

From 1891 on, Whistler's friends and art dealers had been trying to persuade him to exhibit his portraits of Ethel Philip. In May 1891, Théodore Duret was disappointed not to see 'un des portraits de votre belle soeur' at the 1st Exhibition, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. ³⁷

In May 1894 E. G. Kennedy urged Whistler to send works to the USA, 'Now, why not get up that exhibition for America, where things can be sold?' ³⁸ In November of the same year Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859-1920) was also hoping that Whistler would send 'the magnificent portraits of Miss Phillip' to America:

'If Miss Phillip has any objection to sending them to America, believing that this country is ... immature, simply call her attention to the theatrical practice of trying a new play upon ... some provincial town supposed to be without taste or discrimination in theatrical matters.' ³⁹

This did not prove sufficient incentive!

Even four years later, when Francis Howard (1874-1954) wanted 'the portrait of your Sister-in-law' (it is not clear which one) for the ISSPG, Whistler was not ready to exhibit one. ⁴⁰

Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian, photograph, 1894/1900

Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian, National Gallery of Art

At some time after 1894 the painting was photographed (it is reproduced above), and by 1900, it was completed and finally exhibited in Paris, as Whistler told E. G. Kennedy: 'The picture is now hung on the walls of the American section - Exposition Universelle - looking very magnificent - and is called "Nacre et Argent", ["]l'Andalouse".' ⁴¹ Later he told Kennedy, 'The "Andalouse" is of course very swagger and in beautiful condition.' ⁴² The Daily Chronicle correspondent agreed, describing it as 'a subtle and elegant portrait of a woman', while the Manchester Courier commented merely that it was 'original in conception'. ⁴³ Whistler was awarded a Grand prix for his exhibits, but there was a brief spat when the Daily Chronicle wrongly suggested that his work did not qualify (one of his exhibits was painted years earlier, but two, including this portrait, were recent works). ⁴⁴

The portrait was on its way to America immediately after the exhibition, and was then shown in both Philadelphia and New York in 1902, indeed, Whistler was awarded the Temple Medal at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. ⁴⁵

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. 378), plate 242, as 'Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Exposition Universelle, Grand Palais, Paris, 1900 (cat. no. 46) as 'Mother-of-Pearl and Silver – The Andalusian'.
• Fine Arts Exhibit of the United States of America, Exposition Universelle, Paris, 1900 (cat. no. 103) as 'Mother-of-Pearl and Silver – The Andalusian.'
• Seventy-first Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1902 (cat. no. 49) as 'The Andalusian'.
• Twenty-fourth Annual Exhibition, Society of American Artists, New York, 1902 (cat. no. 21) as 'L'Andalusienne'.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 46) as 'L'Andalusienne'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 25) as 'L'Andalouse'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., 'The Paris Exhibition. Foreign Art', Morning Post, London, 10 May 1900, p. 5.
• Anon., 'Our Paris Letter. Foreign Art at the Exhibition', Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 22 May 1900, p. 10.
• Anon., Daily Chronicle, London, 6 October 1900.

Journals 1855-1905

• 'The Grand Prix for Painting at the Paris Exhibition – A Protest,' Magazine of Art, November 1900, p. 1.
• 'Mr Whistler and the Paris Exhibition' in 'Chronicle of Art – February,' Magazine of Art, February 1901, p. 189.
• Anon., ‘Дж. Уистлер - 4 портрета [Dzh. Uistler, 4 Portraits]’, Мир искусства [Mir Iskusstva, 'World of Art'], vol. 8, 1902, pp. 155-59, repr. p. 156.
• Bénédite, Léonce, L'Oeuvre de James MacNeill Whistler, Paris, 1905, repr. pl. 21.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Cary, Elizabeth Luther, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist’s Works, New York, 1907, p. 163 (cat. no. 46).
• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler: Uneasy Pieces, New York, 2004, p. 392, note 9.
• Duret, Théodore, Histoire de J. McN. Whistler et de son oeuvre, Paris, 1904, p. 206 (also in 1917 edition, p. 206).
• Lechien, Isabelle Enaud, James Whistler: le peintre et le polémiste (1834-1903), Tours, 1995, p. 174.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, pp. 38, 186, 196, 204-05, 207-08, repr. fig. 206.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, pp. 158, 251.

Books, General

• Schlossman, Beryl, Objects of Desire: The Madonnas of Modernism, Ithaca and London, 1999.
• Shapley, Fern Rusk, Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, London, 1957 (reprinted 1959), pl. 88, as 'L'Andalouse'.
• Smith, Ann Y., Hidden in Plain Sight: The Whittemore Collection and the French Impressionists, Garnet Hill Publishing Co. and Mattatuck Historical Society, 2009, pp. 55, 92.
• Williams, William James, A heritage of American paintings from the National Gallery of Art, 1981, p. 131, repr. 154, as 'L'Andalouse, Mother-of-Pearl and Silver'.
• Wilmerding, John, American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1980, p. 112, repr.
• Wilmerding, John, American Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Art, revised edition, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1988, p. 142, repr., as 'L'Andalouse, Mother-of-Pearl and Silver'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

COLLECTION:

• Walker, John, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish), p. 328, repr., as 'L'Andalouse'.
• American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1970, p. 120, repr., as 'L'Andalouse, Mother-of-Pearl and Silver'.
• American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1980, p. 257, repr., as 'L'Andalouse, Mother-of-Pearl and Silver'.
• Walker, John, National Gallery of Art, Washington, revised edition, New York, 1984, p. 561 (cat. no. 852), repr.
• American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1992, p. 381, repr.
• Torchia, Robert Wilson, with Deborah Chotner and Ellen G. Miles, American Paintings of the Nineteenth Century, Part II. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue, Washington, DC, 1998, pp. 248-52, repr.

EXHIBITIONS

• Paintings in oil and pastel by James McNeill Whistler, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1910 (cat. no. 33) as 'L'Andalusienne: Mother of Pearl and Silver'.
• Oils, Water-colors, Drawings and Prints by James McNeill Whistler, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1934 (cat. no. 5) as 'L'Andalusienne'.
• A Century of Progress: Exhibition of Paintings and Sculpture, Art Institute of Chicago, 1934 (cat. no. 417), repr., as 'L'Andalouse, Mother of Pearl and Silver'.
• American Painting from 1860 until Today, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, 1937 (cat. no. 208), repr., as 'L'Andalusienne'.
• Exhibition of Paintings, The Tuttle House, Naugatuck, Connecticut, 1938 (cat. no. 37).
• Survey of American Painting, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1940 (cat. no. 138), as 'L'Andalusienne'.
• Paintings from the Whittemore Collection, Mattatuck Historical Society, Waterbury, Connecticut, 1941.
• La Pintura de Los Estados Unidos de Museos de la Ciudad de Washington, Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, 1980-1981 (cat. no. 19), repr.
• Dorment, Richard, and Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1994-1995 (cat. no. 196), pp. 275-76.
• Quesada, Luis, Pintores Españoles y Extranjeros en Andalucia,, Sevilla, 1996 (cat. no. 263), repr.
• James McNeill Whistler, Walter Richard Sickert, Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación 'la Caixa', Madrid, 1998 (cat. no. 16).
• Paris 1900: 'The American School' at the Universal Exposition, 4 venues, shown only at 2nd and 3rd, Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, 1999-2001 (cat. no. 27).
• Merrill, Linda, et al., After Whistler: The Artist and His Influence on American Painting, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2003, p. 136, repr. fig. 92, p. 247 note 63 (not exhibited).
• Andreeva, Galina, and Margaret F. MacDonald, Whistler and Russia, State Tretyakow Gallery, Moscow, 2006, p. 56 (not exhibited).
• Gray, Anne, and Ann Galbally, The Edwardians: Secrets and Desires, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 2004 (cat. no. 144).

Journals 1906-Present

• Hackney, Stephen, 'Art for Art's Sake: The Materials and Techniques of James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)', in: Wallert, Arie, Erma Hermens, and Marja Peek (eds), Preprints: Historical Painting Techniques, Materials, and Studio Practice. Preprints of a symposium [held at] University of Leiden, the Netherlands, 26-29 June 1995, Lawrence, Kansas, 1995, pp. 186-90, at p. 186.
• Newton, Joy, and Margaret F. MacDonald, 'Whistler: Search for a European Reputation', Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschichte, vol. 41, 1978, pp. 148-59.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., and Joy Newton, 'Correspondence Duret-Whistler', Gazette des beaux-arts, November 1987, pp. 150-64.

Websites

• National Gallery of Art website at https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.12197.html.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Whistler, James (Abbott) McNeill', Grove Art Online, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 205).

Other

• None.