The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 551
Dorothy Seton
Date
Dorothy Seton dates from 1902. On Monday 20 October 1902, according to Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936), Whistler had been painting 'Miss Seton', whom she described as:
'a Miss Seton, who was rolling up her reddish hair when I came in. "Most people think she isn’t pretty," Whistler said, "but I find hers a remarkable face. It reminds me of Hogarth's Shrimp Girl in the National Gallery". He had been working, but only a very little. He did not seem able to get back to it again. He showed me a sketch of her head, against a grey-green background, on a tiny panel.' 1
Images
Dorothy Seton, Whereabouts unknown
Dorothy Seton - A Daughter of Eve, The Hunterian
Subject
Titles
Only one title has been suggested:
- 'Dorothy Seton' (1980, YMSM). 2
Description
Described by the Pennells as 'a Miss Seton ... a sketch of her head, against a grey-green background, on a tiny panel.' 3
Sitter
Dorothy Seton (fl. 1885-1900).
Dorothy Seton - A Daughter of Eve, The Hunterian
She posed for Dorothy Seton - A Daughter of Eve y552 (and see also Head of a Girl y554).
She may have been the 'Dora. Seton' recorded in the 1901 UK census as an artist and sculptor, aged 22, born in Dublin, and living at 59 Park Road, Battersea.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
It was described as a sketch portrait of a young woman, Dorothy Seton: 'a sketch of her head, against a grey-green background, on a tiny panel.' 4
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
Unknown.
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. 551) as 'Dorothy Seton'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- None.
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, p. 291.
- Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Whistler Journal, Philadelphia, 1921, p. 257.
Books, General
- None.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- None.
Journals 1906-Present
- None.
Websites
- None.
Unpublished
- None.
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: Pennell 1921C [more], p. 257; see also Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, p. 291.
2: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 551).
3: Pennell 1921C [more], p. 257.
4: Pennell 1921C [more], p. 257.