The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip may date from the late 1890s, although it has been variously dated between 1889 and 1903.

Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian

Red and Black: The Fan, The Hunterian

1889/1890s: Prof. A. McLaren Young suggested that the pose was related to that of Red and Black: The Fan y388, which was considered to have been painted in the early 1890s. ¹ However Red and Black: The Fan y388 may have been started earlier.

1895: The sitter, Ethel Philip ̶ Ethel Whibley (1861-1920) ̶ married Charles Whibley (1859-1930).

Ethel Philip (Mrs Whibley), 1896/1898, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/50

1896: In Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip, the sitter appears to be dressed severely in black, and this might reflect the period of mourning after the death of her sister, Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896) , on 10 May 1896. Ethel's appearance at that time is recorded in several photographs. ²

1897-1900: Ethel (by then Mrs Whibley) is known to have been posing for Whistler at intervals from 1896 to 1897. The Hunterian dates the portrait ca 1897-1900. ³

Ethel Whibley and Mrs Birnie Philip, 1896/1909, photo by W.D. Downey, GUL Whistler PH1/51

1901/1903: Finally, a note on the verso of Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip, written by Harold Wright (1885-1961) of Colnaghi's, on information provided by the sitter's sister, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), said this portrait was painted at Cheyne Walk 'about 1903'. This would make it one of Whistler's last paintings. Ethel did help her sister to nurse the ailing Whistler. His health made sittings less likely in 1902-1903, but stylistically a late date is possible.

Images

Subject

Titles

The known titles vary only in the form of the sitter's name:

• 'Sketch of Mrs. Charles Whibley' (1973, Colnaghi). ⁴
• 'Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip' (1980, YMSM). ⁵

The precise title of the sitter depends on the date of the picture. If this was painted before 1895, when Ethel Philip married Charles Whibley, then 'Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip', as used in the 1980 catalogue raisonné, is correct. If it was painted later, between 1896 and 1903, then 'Sketch of Mrs. Charles Whibley' would have been more correct. Since changing the title would be confusing, it has been decided to stick with the generally accepted title 'Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip'.

Description

Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46371

The head and shoulders of a woman, facing the viewer, her head in a slightly three-quarter view to right. She has a heavy dark fringe and wears a black high-necked dress. The background is a dark brown. The portrait is in vertical format.

Sitter

Ethel Philip (Mrs Whibley), 1896/1898, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/51

Ethel Whibley and Mrs Birnie Philip, 1896/1909, photo by W. D. Downey, GUL Whistler PH1/51

Ethel Whibley (1861-1920) . In 1895 she married the journalist and critic, Charles Whibley (1859-1930).

Technique

Composition

Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian

Red and Black: The Fan, The Hunterian

It has been suggested that Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip was a study for Red and Black: The Fan y388. However, although it is true that the pose of her head is similar, and there are signs that she was originally wearing a hat, the brushwork is very different and suggests it (the 'Sketch') is a later work.

Technique

Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian

It is painted on a plain open-weave tabby canvas, primed in grey, possibly over an off-white commercial preparation. The face was painted thinly, and dryly, and left unfinished. There are signs above and to right of her head that suggest she originally posed wearing a hat. The paint is extremely thin on the background, barely rubbed in. Short strokes and blobs of thin paint roughly define the planes and lights on the face.

Conservation History

The painting has not been varnished, and is somewhat dirty. The canvas is unlined (which is comparatively unusual in Whistler's oeuvre) and has become brittle. ⁶

Frame

59.2 x 39.4 x 3.6 cm.

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his ward and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1958: bequeathed by Miss R. Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

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. 387), plate 244, as 'Sketch of Miss Ethel Philip'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• None.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Glasgow University's Pictures, London, Colnaghi, 1973 (cat. no. 101) 'Sketch of Mrs. Charles Whibley'.
• Spencer, Robin, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1969 (cat. no. 49).
• Pickvance, Ronald, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903): An Exhibition of Works from the University of Glasgow Collection, Nottingham University Art Gallery, Nottingham, 1970 (cat. no. 11).
• ホイスラー展. Whistler Exhibition in Japan, Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo; Shizuoka Prefectural Museum, Shizuoka, 1986 (cat. no. 20).
• Ayako Ono, ホイッスラー展. James McNeill Whistler Retrospective, National Museum of Modern Art, Kyōto, 2014, and Yokohama Museum of Art, 2014–2015 (cat. no. 37).

Journals 1906-Present

• None.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk/#/details/ecatalogue/41277.
• Art UK website at http://artuk.org.

Unpublished

• None.

Other

• None.