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Provenance

Probably given or bequeathed by the artist to William Webb (of James McNeill Whistler's firm of lawyers.)[1] (Forbes and Paterson), London; sold 1930 through (Charles Sessler, Philadelphia) to Lessing J. Rosenwald, Philadelphia;[2] gift to NGA, 1943.

Exhibition History

1904
Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Hall, Boston, 1904, no. 76.
1931
Etchings, lithographs, original drawings, and autograph letters by James A. McNeill Whistler, 1834-1903: lent by Lessing J. Rosenwald, Esq, Free Library of Philadelphia, 1931, unnumbered and unillustrated leaflet.

Technical Summary

The support is a single piece of lightweight softwood. The ground is white, applied with sweeping brushstrokes leaving the striations clearly visible. The painting is executed very spontaneously, the figure in thick paint blended wet into wet and worked with texture, and the background with thin browns and grays through which the ground is visible. The painting is in excellent condition. Abrasion and losses are confined to the perimeter; the losses are apparently the result of adhesion of the still-wet layer to the frame. The very thinly applied natural resin varnish has not discolored.

Bibliography

1970
American Paintings and Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970: 122, repro., as by James McNeill Whistler.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 376, repro.
1980
American Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1980: 310, as by Beatrix Godwin Whistler.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 437, repro.
1992
Hayes, John. British Paintings of the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1992: 326-329, repro. 327.

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