The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2) dates from 1893-1895.

According to Kennedy it was painted as thanks for services rendered, and he posed in Whistler's top floor studio in the rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, Paris, with the temperature in the nineties Fahrenheit. ¹

1893: An earlier version was started in the summer of 1893 (see Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (1) y403) and Kennedy asked Whistler if he could take 'the picture' back to America, returning with it in the following year 'if you care to take it up again', but, he added:

'As for the Standing one, there is not much to do to it, & that can be done some time next year when the weather is not so warm as to threaten the voyageur with rabies when under the roof of 89 rue des petits Champs.' ²

Whistler agreed, but nothing more was heard of the first painting, and it seems that it was 'the Standing one' that was continued in 1894.

1894: Whistler still had the second portrait of Kennedy in his studio. When they heard that the art dealer was planning to return in April 1894, Beatrice Whistler wrote: 'Mr Whistler will be very pleased to see you - if you come in April. He has been looking at your little portrait, and is very pleased with [it].' ³ In fact it was May when Kennedy arrived in London. On 20 May he wrote that he assumed that the portrait, which they called 'OK', needed one more 'standing', and he suggested the second week in June. ⁴

According to Kennedy, he posed in the garden on one foot like 'John of Bologna's "Mercury" '; he complained that 'my hindfoot seemed asleep at times and the hip bone of that leg had run up to my right shoulder blade', and finally he took the portrait away to London still wet:

'I unpacked "O'K." when I arrived. He is all right & by the time I start he will be dry, so that no risk will be run in transportation. I think that when the times Comes to put on varnish, he will look better. I am now looking around for something to prevent hair from falling out, as I fear if it goes as it has been going lately, that next year I shall be able to part it with a towel. This anxiety on my part is aroused by the magic sentence from your lips: "Next year I'll paint your portrait in one sitting, sitting." In my mind's eye, I see myself sitting with a bland, "I'm not fatigued at all, thank you" expression, as bland as Sir Seymour Haden, when he notices the bobs of the Country people in Hampshire as he drives along the Queen's highway. So mote it be!' ⁵

In New York it was framed, and Kennedy told Whistler 'it looks very well. The face must be finished however, as the clothes are.' ⁶ And in another letter he added:

'The portrait of O'K. has retouching varnish on it, and looks well, except that it wants a trifle more modelling on the face, but the Colour is fine, in short it is very "swell" in Every way, and when you put a few touches on the phiz - I tell you none of your works can be held as superior to it.' ⁷

1895: It was continued in Paris the following summer, at Whistler's request. ⁸ In June Whistler, with difficulty, arranged sittings 'to complete the little O.K' when he was not working on the Portrait of Miss Marion Peck y439. ⁹ Kennedy wanted his portrait sent to America but Whistler prevaricated, 'The small O K had better go on drying where he is - for the present.' ¹⁰ The artist next wrote on 12 July 1895: 'The little O K. must be packed separately - but shall go at once'; to this letter Kennedy, then en route to America, added a note, ' "The little O K." alludes to my portrait by Whistler which is a replica of a former one not so good but which was put aside. Same composition.' ¹¹ Kennedy agreed to bring the portrait back to Europe, 'I shall bring the O'K - over next year again for reparation to his upper lip which looks like a hare lip somewhat. Otherwise is all right.' ¹²

1896: However, Kennedy wrote to Whistler on 14 April 1896 refusing to bring the painting back: 'No, no, you wiped out the distinguished O'K. and the other remains here, such as he is. I'll send him to you if you like, if you do another one but not standing and not so small.' ¹³

1900: On 27 February Kennedy suggested ironically that he would 'bring over Whistler's portrait of O'K. & have him paint English mutton chop whiskers on it.' ¹⁴ He didn't!

Images

Subject

Titles

Possible titles include:

• 'O'K' (1894, E. G. Kennedy). ¹⁵
• 'Portrait Study' (1895, National Academy of Design, New York). ¹⁶
• 'Portrait of Man' (1904, Copley Society, Boston). ¹⁷
• 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy, Esq.' (1905, ISSPG). ¹⁸
• Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2) (1980, YMSM). ¹⁹

It is numbered 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2)' because it was painted immediately after Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (1) y403.

Description

Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

A small full-length portrait in vertical format, showing a man in a black jacket and waistcoat, a black cravat and high white collar, and grey trousers. He has thin dark hair and a moustache. He holds a hat in his right hand, and stands with his left foot forward, his left arm slightly bent, wearing a brown glove on his left hand, and holding a glove. A dark overcoat or cloak hangs from his shoulders, the revere sticking out slightly to left of his arm. The butterfly signature is at right, just below centre, and is now almost invisible.

Sitter

Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932). Kennedy thought it 'a "poor" portrait' and did not wish it to be exhibited in his lifetime. ²⁰ H. S. Morris wrote that the portrait was 'very dark. We knew it as the black cat in a dark cellar, and often joked with Kennedy over it. But it was, after all, something to be painted by Whistler and to remain his friend, and Kennedy's handsome figure deserved the compliment.' ²¹

G. Boldini, E. G. Kennedy, Metropolitan Museum of Art

W. M. Chase, E. G. Kennedy, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Two portraits of Kennedy dating from the 1890s are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: an oil by William Merritt Chase (1849-1916) (1973.342) and a drawing by Giovanni Boldini (1845-1931) (33.40.62).

Technique

Composition

Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

On 20 July 1895 Kennedy noted that it was 'a replica of a former one not so good but which was put aside. Same composition’. Whistler wrote on 12 July 1895: 'The little O K. must be packed separately - but shall go at once.' ²² The sitter wrote to Whistler on 14 April 1896 saying that, since Whistler had wiped out the 'distinguished portrait' (presumably Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (1) y403), Kennedy would not bring back the one he still had: 'the other remains here, such as he is. I'll send him to you if you like, if you do another one but not standing and not so small.' ²³ Kennedy went to France with Whistler after the death of Whistler's wife in the summer of 1896, but there was no reference to the portrait being continued.

Technique

Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Painted thinly on a wood panel, the face and hands being in very slightly thicker paint, and painted with a small brush. Despite the frequent sittings and reworking, it looks quite fresh.

Conservation History

Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2), photograph, 1950s?

Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2), Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.

Unknown. The edges of the painting, where it was under the frame, are scuffed. There is some craquelure around Kennedy's right hand and hat. The clothes and background may have darkened. The butterfly at right is practically invisible now.

Frame

Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2), frame, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

It is in a Grau-style frame. ²⁴

History

Provenance

• 1894: commissioned by Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932), New York, and acquired in the following year;
• 1909: presented by the sitter to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Exhibitions

• 1895: Loan Exhibition of Portraits for the Benefit of St. John's Guild and the Orthopædic Hospital, National Academy of Design, New York, 1895 (cat. no. 329) as 'Portrait Study'.
• 1896: 66th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1896 (cat. no. 336) as 'Portrait Study'.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 cat. no. (80) as 'Portrait of Man'.
• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 83) as 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy, Esq.'

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. 404), plate 274, as 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy (2)'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Loan Exhibition of Portraits for the Benefit of St. John's Guild and the Orthopædic Hospital, National Academy of Design, New York, 1895 (cat. no. 329) as 'Portrait Study'.
• 66th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1896 (cat. no. 336) as 'Portrait Study'.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 cat. no. (80) as 'Portrait of Man'.
• Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 83) as 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy, Esq.'

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

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. 169 (cat. no. 182) 'Portrait of Man'.
• Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobsen, Blyth McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor. Lovely Little Games, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2019, p. 86, repr. p. 87.
• Lane, James W., Whistler, (American Artists Series), New York, 1942, repr. p. 100.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, p. 172.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 6th (revised) edition, Philadelphia and London, 1919, pp. 319, 334-35, 432, repr. f.p. 417.
• Sickert, Bernhard, Whistler, London and New York, 1908, p. 174 (cat. no. 182) as 'Portrait of E. G. Kennedy'..

Books, General

• Morris, Harrison S., Confessions in Art, New York, 1930, p. 76.

Catalogues 1906-Present

COLLECTION:

• Gardner, Albert TenEyck, and Stuart P. Feld, American Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1965, vol. 2, pp. 391-393.
• Luhrs, Kathleen, ‎John Caldwell, American Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1980, p. 91.
• Spassky, Natalie, with Linda Bantel, Doreen Bolger Burke, Meg Perlman, and Amy L. Walsh, American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1816 and 1845, New York, 1985, pp. 392-94.

EXHIBITIONS:

• White, Nelson C., James McNeill Whistler Seventeenth Anniversary Exhibition, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, CT, 1949 (cat. no. 20).
• On loan, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1954-1956 (no catalogue).
• Fourteen American Masters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1958-1959 (no catalogue).
• Drawings, Watercolors, Prints and Paintings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1972 (no catalogue).
• Drawings, Watercolors, Prints and Paintings by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Albany Institute of History and Art, 1974 (no catalogue).

Journals 1906-Present

• Burroughs, Bryson, 'Principal Accessions', Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 5, February 1910, pp. 45-49, at pp. 46-47, repr p. 46.
• Cortissoz, Royal, Bulletin of the New York Public Library, vol. 36, December 1932, p. 801; reprinting Cortissoz, Royal, New York Herald Tribune, 11 October 1932, p. 16.

Newspapers 1906-Present

• Cortissoz, Royal, New York Herald Tribune, 11 October 1932, p. 16.
• Pennell, E. R., Baltimore Sun, 8 July 1934.

Websites

• Metropolitan Museum of Art website at http://www.metmuseum.org.

Unpublished

• None.

Other

• None.