The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Self-Portrait may date from 1896, or subsequent years. ¹

The stamp of the Maison Chapuis on the back of the stretcher suggests that the canvas was bought or treated in Paris. Thus the portrait could have been started there, but this is not certain. In October 1898 Whistler ordered a load of canvases from Claude Chapuis (1829-1908): 'a dozen more canvasses of the same sizes as the last - there were two measurements - he must have them on his books - say then a dozen of each - say they are for heads', he told Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958). ² He had just arrived in London at that time but the tenor of the letter suggests he was returning soon and wanted to have his Paris studio in good order.

Self-Portrait, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46329

Whistler was living in Paris in the late 1890s. This portrait could have been worked on early in 1898 – when Whistler was certainly painting another self-portrait, Gold and Brown y462 – or after October 1898, when he ordered the canvases from Chapuis, rather than in 1896 as recorded by Harold Wright (1885-1961), the art dealer who helped Miss Birnie Philip list the contents of Whistler's studio after his death.

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 46329

A head and shoulders portrait of the artist, in vertical format. His head is seen in three-quarter view to right, and he looks directly at the viewer (himself!). He wears a black jacket and narrow black cravat over a white shirt. His hair is slightly curly, with a white lock faintly indicated at upper right, and he has a wide moustache. The background is very dark brown.

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 46329

Self-Portrait, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46373

This self-portrait is more highly finished than another related study Self-Portrait y460.

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, GLAHA 46329

It is very thinly painted on very fine close weave tabby canvas. Thin grey underpaint is visible at the lower edge of the canvas and there are signs of alterations at the neck of the jacket. The left side of the face is deeply shadowed and appears to be in the process of being scraped down and changed (which was often part of the artist's practise), although the rest of the head is outlined clearly.

Conservation History

The canvas has not been lined and is in good sound condition though it is rather brittle and abraded at the edges. ⁵

Frame

Grau-style frame, daring from the late 1890s. ⁶ Size: 82.4 x 62.8 x 7.2 cm.

A stamp on the verso of the stretcher reads 'Maison CHAPUIS / BRISSON Freres, Neveux Successeurs / 20 quai de la Magisserie / 2. Rue des Bourdonnais 2'. This suggests a date of 1899 or later, and may relate to work done for Whistler or for Rosalind Birnie Philip after his death. ⁷

History

Provenance

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

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. 461) as 'Self-Portrait', plates 341, 437.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Gallatin, Albert Eugene, The Portraits and Caricatures of James McNeill Whistler: An Iconography, London, New York and Toronto, 1913, p. 7.
• Peters, Lisa N., James McNeill Whistler, New York, 1996, p. 79, repr.

Books, General

• McLaughlan, Robert, Gifted, Edinburgh, 1990, pp. 108-09.
• McPherson, Heather, Fin-de-Siecle Faces: Portraiture in the Age of Proust, The Visual Arts Gallery, The University of Birmingham at Birmingham, 1988, p. 44, n. 70.

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'.
• 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).

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/41088.
• Simon, J., 'British picture restorers, 1600-1950 - C', National Portrait Gallery website, at http://www.npg.org.uk/research.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 10) 'Self portrait'.

Other

• Denker, Eric, In Pursuit of the Butterfly:Portraits of James McNeill Whistler, PhD thesis, University of Virginia, 1995, p. 185.
• Parkerson, Sarah Lawrence, Variations in Gold: The Stylistic Development of the Picture Frames used by James McNeill Whistlers, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2007.