The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip may have been started in 1894, and possibly continued at intervals for several years.

1894: On 20 May 1894 Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) of Wunderlich's, New York dealers, wrote to suggest that Whistler should exhibit one of his portraits of Miss Philip, such as 'one in black', with them. ¹

1896: In June 1896, according to Kennedy, there were three full-lengths of Mrs Whibley (née Philip) in the Fitzroy Street studio, Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian y378, Rose et or: La Tulipe y418, and 'one in black', all of which he was to buy when Whistler had completed the hands, as he noted, '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". There was something to do to the hands of each.' ²

On 4 September 1896 Wunderlich & Co. recorded the agreement between Kennedy and Whistler regarding The Little Rose of Lyme Regis y449 The Master Smith of Lyme Regis y450 and 'the portrait of Mrs. Whibley either the black one' or Rose et or: La Tulipe y418:

'The agreement is that he bought of you in the first place, the Smith, the little Rose and the portrait of Mrs. [Whibley], 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".' ³

1897: However a year later, on 6 November 1897, Kennedy noted that he had bought but not received four portraits of Mrs Whibley. ⁴

Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian

1901: Whistler wrote to Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) on 3 November 1901, that he had discovered a portrait of 'Bunnie' (Mrs Whibley), which might have been Harmony in Brown: The Felt Hat y395 or Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip y419, which he thought worth completing; and through Rosalind, he sent a message to Ethel: 'I have found a very pretty picture of you! you must come & see if something may not be done!' ⁵

1903: The portrait was in Whistler's studio at his death.

Images

Subject

Titles

The suggested title is:

• 'Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip' (1980, YMSM). ⁶

Description

Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian

A full length portrait of a woman in a black dress and shawl, in profile to right, in vertical format. She stands on a dark beige floor, her shadow at right merging into the dark brown/black background. She carries a fan in her right hand and has a red ribbon or feathers in her dark hair. Black feathers – possibly a boa, or trim on a jacket – are visible at her neck, and embroidered patterns on the black shawl or jacket. She may be wearing a mantilla.

Sitter

Ethel Whibley at 110 Rue du Bac, 1896/1898, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/51, 2491

Whistler's sister-in-law Ethel Birnie Philip – Ethel Whibley (1861-1920) – married Charles Whibley (1859-1930) long before this portrait was completed. She posed for several portraits including Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian y378. It is possible that Whistler took the photograph reproduced above.

W. & D. Downey, Ethel Whibley and Mrs Birnie Philip, 1896/1909, photograph, GUL Whistler PH1/166

Mrs John Birnie Philip and family, platinum print, GUL Whistler PH1/165

Ethel appears with her mother Frances Philip (1824-1917) in one of the photographs reproduced above, and with the entire Birnie Philip family, and her husband, in the second photograph, which was probably taken shortly after Whistler's death.

Technique

Composition

Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, albumen print, 1894/1904, GUL Whistler PH4/56/1

Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian

Photographs in Glasgow University Library show it before completion. The robe appeared lighter and stood out strongly against the dark background at left, but the photographic process may have produced this effect. ⁷ The grey pattern, which has cracked a little, was probably originally much clearer. There was no big red butterfly, and the right hand, holding the fan, was concealed in the sleeve.

In June 1896, according to E. G. Kennedy, there were three full-lengths of Mrs Whibley in the Fitzroy Street studio, including 'one in black' and he added 'There was something to do to the hands of each.' ⁸

Technique

The paint has been applied fairly thinly with broad brushstrokes. However, the excessive use of thinners has caused poor paint film formation.

Conservation History

The painting has darkened. It is difficult to distinguish the darker areas of dress and background, although the varnish does not help in this respect, nor does the lead soap formation in Whistler's paint, a sign of deterioration in the paint. ⁹

Frame

Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, The Hunterian

Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip, frame detail

It is in a Convex Portrait Whistler frame, with liner. ¹⁰

History

Provenance

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

On 4 September 1896 Wunderlich & Co. recorded an agreement between E.G. Kennedy and Whistler regarding The Little Rose of Lyme Regis y449 The Master Smith of Lyme Regis y450 and 'the portrait of Mrs. Whibley either the black one' or Rose et or: La Tulipe y418:

'The agreement is that he bought of you in the first place, the Smith, the little Rose and the portrait of Mrs. [Whibley], 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".' ¹¹

However a year later, on 6 November 1897, Kennedy noted that he had bought but not received four portraits of Mrs Whibley. ¹²

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. 419), as 'Harmony in Black: Portrait of Miss Ethel Philip', plates 257, 430.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, p. 193.
• Sutton, Denys, Nocturne: The Art of James McNeill Whistler, London, 1963, p. 129.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• None.

Journals 1906-Present

• Carnegie Magazine, vol. 62, 1995, p. 20.
• Thorp, Nigel, 'Studies in Black and White: Whistler’s Photographs in Glasgow University Library', in: Ruth Fine (ed.), James McNeill Whistler: A Reexamination, Studies in the History of Art, vol. 19, Washington, DC, 1987, pp. 85-100, at pp. 87, 92.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk/#/details/ecatalogue/41059.
• Art UK website at http://artuk.org.
• 'Harmony in Black', Albumen print, University of Glasgow, University Collections at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 206).

Other

• Parkerson, Sarah Lawrence, Variations in Gold: The Stylistic Development of the Picture Frames used by James McNeill Whistlers, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2007.
• Siewert, John, 'Whistler’s Nocturnes and the Aesthetic Subject', PhD thesis, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1994.