The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Self-Portrait probably dates from 1896, but could date from later. ¹

Self-Portrait, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46373

Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) told Harold Wright (1885-1961) of Colnaghi’s that this portrait was painted in Whistler's Fitzroy Street studio about 1896. ² This information was recorded after Whistler’s death.

Whistler had taken the studio at 8 Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy Square, London, in February 1896, and it was redecorated and ready for use by May. He owned the studio until his death. Thus if this self-portrait was painted in the Fitzroy Street studio it dates from between May 1896 and 1903, or more realistically, between May 1896 and 1902.

Images

Subject

Titles

Whistler’s own title is not known, so the picture was given a descriptive title:

• ‘Sketch for a Self Portrait’ (1960, Arts Council). ³
• ‘Self-portrait’ (1980, YMSM). ⁴

‘Self-portrait’ is the generally accepted title.

Description

Self-Portrait, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46373

A head and shoulders portrait of the artist, in vertical format. His head, seen in three-quarter view to right, is slightly tilted to right (his left). The effect of the monocle is to distort his eye and provides him with a somewhat manic stare.

He wears a black jacket and cravat over a bright white collar. His hair is slightly curly, with a white lock just indicated at upper right. He has a broad moustache. The background is very dark.

Sitter

H. S. Mendelssohn, J. McN. Whistler, albumen print, 1884/1885, GUL Whistler PH1/108

H. S. Mendelssohn, J. McN. Whistler, 1884/1895, albumen print, GUL Whistler PH1/228

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). This is one of a series of self- portraits, possibly studies for Gold and Brown y462.

Technique

Composition

Self-Portrait, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46373

Self-Portrait, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46329

The portrait is closely related to a more highly finished self-portrait that remained in Whistler’s estate, Self-Portrait y461. It is, however, slightly more richly coloured than the other Self-Portrait.

Gold and Brown, National Gallery of Art

A third self-portrait, Gold and Brown y462, was worked on in Paris early in 1898, and Whistler could have been working on both, or all three, at that time.

Technique

Self-Portrait, The Hunterian

It was painted thinly on a very fine open weave tabby canvas. The paint is slightly thicker on and around the head. Touches of brown in the background, the thick white of the collar, and red of the lips, bring the portrait to life, although some areas, like Whistler's forehead, and his coat, have been rubbed down a little; this appears to have been part of the artist's habitual technique in the 1890s. There is almost no paint along the lower edge of the canvas.

Conservation History

The canvas has not been lined, and the glossy varnish is a little uneven, but it is in good sound condition. ⁵

Frame

It is in a Grau-style frame. ⁶ Size: 58.4 x 37.9 x 3.6 cm.

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 Miss R. Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's life 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. 460) as 'Self-Portrait', plates 295, 437.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Denker, Eric, In Pursuit of the Butterfly, Seattle, 1995, pp. 143-44, repr. fig. 5.22.
• Gallatin, Albert Eugene, The Portraits and Caricatures of James McNeill Whistler: An Iconography, London, New York and Toronto, 1913, p. 7.
• Sutton, Denys, Nocturne: The Art of James McNeill Whistler, London, 1963, pp. 15, 131, 134.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Young, A. McLaren, James McNeill Whistler, Arts Council Gallery, London, and Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1960 (cat. no. 63) as 'Sketch for a Self Portrait'.
• Prélude à Whistler: James McNeill Whistler, peintre et graveur, 1834-1903, Centre culturel américain, Paris, 1961, repr. frontisp.
• Young, A. McLaren, Glasgow University's Pictures, Colnaghi, London, 1973 (cat. no. 105).
• Sutton, Denys, and Martin Hopkinson, ホイスラー展. Whistler Exhibition in Japan, Tokyo, 1987 (cat. no. 34) and p. 30.
• Dorment, Richard, and Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1994-1995, pp. 284, 304 note 2 (not exhibited).
• 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. 32).

Journals 1906-Present

• Shaw, Edith, and Margaret F. MacInnes [M. F. MacDonald], ‘Four Years with Whistler’, Apollo, vol. 87, March 1968, pp. 198-201, p. 201, repr. fig. 5.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk/#/details/ecatalogue/41279.
• Art UK website at https://artuk.org.

Unpublished

• None.

Other

• None.