The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Study of a French Girl dates from between 1897 and 1900. ¹

Study of a French Girl, The Hunterian

It is dated by the technique and the colour, including the dark green of the background, and by its relationship to other portraits, particularly those painted in Paris in the late 1890s.

Images

Subject

Titles

Whistler's original title is not known. The published titles that follow are not appropriate:

• 'Unfinished Study of a French Girl' (1936, Glasgow University). ²
• 'Unfinished Study of a French Girl' (1980, YMSM). ³

Since the question of whether a painting is finished or not does not usually form part of the title, the new and preferred title for this work is 'Study of a French Girl'.

Description

Study of a French Girl, The Hunterian

A half-length portrait in vertical format. It shows a girl with a long face, pouting; she has tousled short dark auburn hair, and faces the viewer. Her clothes are dark, trimmed at the neck with a fur collar, and she stands against a dark olive green background.

Sitter

A French model, not identified. Other studies of child models painted in Paris include The Daughter of the Concierge y436, A Paris Model y458, and Study of an Italian Boy y514.

Technique

Technique

Study of a French Girl, The Hunterian

The canvas is a fine weave, primed a deep grey. An olive green background has been started at the top but not finished. A fur collar is the only suggestion of dress. A rough white line across the bottom of the canvas may be an accident or a sign that Whistler meant to have the canvas reduced in size. The basic modelling of the girl's face has been done boldly, with small blobs of paint not yet smoothed together. The girl's curly auburn hair is tousled and her expression lowering.

Conservation History

Unknown.

Frame

Study of a French Girl, The Hunterian

Study of a French Girl, frame detail

Whistlerian Flat frame, dating from the 1920s. ⁴

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903 and bequeathed to his ward and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1935: given by her to the University of Glasgow

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Due to the terms of Miss Birnie Philip's will, it cannot be lent to another venue.

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. 433), plate 284, as 'Study of a French Girl'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• None.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1936 (cat. no. 34) 'Unfinished Study of a French Girl'.

Journals 1906-Present

• None.

Websites

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

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 247).

Other

• None.