The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

YMSM 484
Le Bébé français

Le Bébé français

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1897
Collection: The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
Accession Number: GLAHA 46339
Medium: oil
Support: canvas, circular
Size: 35.7 cm diameter (14")
Signature: none
Inscription: none

Date

Le Bébé français probably dates from 1897. 1

Le Bébé français, The Hunterian
Le Bébé français, The Hunterian

1897: Whistler was in Etretat for a holiday in September. He seems to have been popping back and forth from London to Etretat, where his in-laws, the Birnie Philips, were staying for the summer. According to Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), on 28 September 1897 Whistler returned from London to Etretat and began the portrait of a local baby, which may be this portrait. 2

1900: On 20 February Whistler, then living in Paris, told Miss Birnie Philip, who was in London: 'I should like that head of the baby I did at Etretat sent at once through Mr. Marchant, (Goupils) to their house here - It must not have any frame - but then must be wrapped in something - some old drapery - and tied up in brown paper.' 3 This may refer to Le Bébé français, but it is not clear why Whistler wanted it, and there is no further mention of it.

Images

Le Bébé français, The Hunterian
Le Bébé français, The Hunterian

Subject

Titles

Only one title has been suggested, with varying capitalisation:

Description

Le Bébé français, The Hunterian
Le Bébé français, The Hunterian

A portrait in circular format, showing the head and shoulders of a sleeping baby with curly brown hair, her head in profile to left. She wears a white blouse with a broad frilled collar, like a ruff.

Sitter

The sleeping child in this painting has not been unidentified, being described only as a 'local baby'. The child was painted in Etretat, Normandy, France.

Comments

Whistler painted several sketches of babies or toddlers, including one of his first oils, The Artist's Niece y001, and later studies, Note in Flesh Colour and Grey: Portrait of Miss Dorothy Menpes y260 and Portrait of Miss Amy Brandon Thomas y392.

Technique

Technique

Le Bébé français, The Hunterian
Le Bébé français, The Hunterian

The canvas is a medium weight plain tabby weave, lined with tabby linen. It has a blue line similar to one seen on canvases from Emile Blanchet (1852-1931) that were used for Whistler's full length portraits. 7 The dark grey ground forms a visible base colour. The portrait is painted loosely, with the baby's face brushed with very liquid paint, and the clothes scrubbed in with a much drier brush. The effect is spontaneous, but the portrait does not seem to have been finished.

Anderson and Koval comment on the 'looseness and fluidity of this painting', done 'quickly and efficiently', as an example of Whistler's preference for young models, and his greater freedom and effectiveness when working on uncommisioned subjects. 8

Conservation History

The lining emphasized the strong weave of the canvas and is clearly seen through the thin paint and priming. The varnish is glossy and discoloured, although the painting itself is structurally sound. 9

Frame

A circular wooden frame.

History

Provenance

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

By the terms of Miss R. Birnie Philip's gift, it can not be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

Authored by Whistler

Catalogues 1855-1905

Journals 1855-1905

Monographs

Books on Whistler

Books, General

Catalogues 1906-Present

Journals 1906-Present

Websites

Unpublished

Other


Notes:

1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 484).

2: Note by Miss R. Birnie Philip from her letters to Mrs Whibley, GUL Whistler BP III B/9.

3: [20 February 1900], GUW #04773.

4: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 47).

5: James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1936 (cat. no. 16).

6: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 484).

7: Condition report by Clare Meredith, 8 May 2001, Hunterian files.

8: Anderson 1994 [more], p. 419.

9: Meredith, 2001, op. cit.