The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Violinist probably dates from between 1890 and 1894, but is difficult to date precisely.

The Violinist, Cleveland Museum of Art

The technique suggests a date in the early 1890s. The butterfly, which appears to be an integral part of the original painting, is of the style used by Whistler about 1894. ¹

Images

Subject

Titles

Minor variations on the title include:

• 'lute player' (1903, C. L. Freer). ²
• 'Die Violinspielerin' (1903, Entwicklung des Impressionismus in Malerei und Plastik, Vienna). ³
• 'The Violinist' (1905, ISSPG). ⁴
• 'The Violin Player' (1943, Cleveland Museum of Art). ⁵
• 'The Violinist' (1980, YMSM). ⁶

'The Violinist' is the preferred title.

Description

The Violinist, Cleveland Museum of Art

A half-length portrait of a young woman seated, facing the viewer. She wears an evening dress in grey and pink, with a deep v-neck, and holds a violin under her right arm. She is lit from the left, and set against a dark brown background. The canvas is in vertical format.

Sitter

Unknown. She has a certain resemblance to a later model, Muriel Smith (1883-1923).

Comments

The most famous of Whistler's musical subjects is the portrait of the violinist, Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate y315.

Technique

Technique

The Violinist, Cleveland Museum of Art

According to Museum conservation reports the canvas, of coarse weave, was prepared with a grey water-based ground, and on top of that a red layer.

Conservation History

The Violinist, photograph, 1905?, GUL WPP

The Violinist, photograph, n.d.

The Violinist, Cleveland Museum of Art

It is possible that the painting has darkened, but these earlier photographs may exaggerate any changes, due to the lighting or the length of the exposure.

Frame

The Violinist, frame

The Violinist, frame, verso

It is in a Grau-style frame of American manufacture dating from the 1910s. ⁷

History

Provenance

• Before 1903: acquired by the art dealer Elbert Jan van Wisselingh (1848-1912);
• 1908: sold by him to the Macbeth Galleries, New York;
• 1908: sold by Macbeth to Spiri, an art dealer in Amsterdam.
• 1911: owned by David Heinemann (dates unknown), Munich;
• 1912: bought from him by Howard P. Eells (1855-1919), Cleveland;
• 1919: bequeathed to his widow, Alice Maud Stager (Mrs Eells) (1865-1961);
• 1942: given by her to the Cleveland Museum of Art.

According to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), of Detroit, in 1903 E. J. van Wisselingh, art dealer, of London and The Hague, owned what Freer described as the 'lute player', which was probably this portrait. ⁸ It was sold by van Wisselingh to the Macbeth Gallery, New York, on 20 February 1908 for $l0,000, but returned to the Netherlands and was sold by Macbeth's to Spiri on 1 May 1908. It was owned by David Heinemann in 1911. ⁹ It was bought from Heinemann by Howard P. Eells in the following year for $8000, and bequeathed to his widow, Maud Eells, 11 February 1919; she gave it to the Cleveland Museum of Art on 31 December 1942. ¹⁰

Exhibitions

• 1903: Entwicklung des Impressionismus in Malerei und Plastik: XVI. Ausstellung der Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs, Vienna, 1903 (cat. no. 90) as 'Die Violinspielerin'.
• 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. 34) as 'The Violinist'.

The Violinist, photograph, 1905?

As their corresponding member, Whistler sent the painting to the 16th exhibition of the Vienna Secession. It was lent by 'Monsieur Z' (probably E. J. van Wisselingh) to the 1905 memorial exhibition. The photograph reproduced above may date from that time.

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. 422), plate 259, as 'The Violinist'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs (ed.), Entwicklung des Impressionismus in Malerei und Plastik, Vienna, 1903 (cat. no. 90) as 'Die Violinspielerin'.
• The International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers (ed.), Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late J. McNeill Whistler, London, 1905 (cat. no. 34) as 'The Violinist'.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, repr. f.p. 210.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• American Paintings Owned in Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1920.
• The Work of James McNeill Whistler, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1933.
• Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1936 (cat. no. 376).
• American Painting from 1860 Until Today, Cleveland Museum of Art, 1937 (cat. no. 209).
• McIntyre, Robert G., Whistler: Loan Exhibition, New York, Macbeth Gallery, 1947 (cat. no. 24).
• Tercentennial Celebration, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London, Stonington , CT, 1949 (cat. no. 2).
• Music in Art, Hackley Art Gallery, Muskegan, MI, 1949.
• Expatriates: Whistler, Cassatt, Sargent, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, 1953.
• American Painting 1804-1954, Ohio University, Athens, OH, 1954 (cat. no. 14), pl. 14.
• Survey of 19th Century American Paintings, The Akron Art Institute, Akron, OH, 1959.

Journals 1906-Present

• 'Recent Changes in the Painting Galleries', The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 5, no. 2/3, 1918, pp. 22-27, at p. 26.
• Art Digest, 1 June 1943, p. 5.
• Francis, Henry S., ' “The Violin Player” by Whistler', Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 30, September 1943, pp. 106, 111-12, 117.
• Francis, Henry S., 'Portraits by Whistler and Chase', Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 52, January 1965, pp. 19-23.

Websites

• Cleveland Museum of Art website at clevelandart.org.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 196).

Other

• None.