Portrait of Thomas Winans dates from 1854 or 1855. 1

On 5 August 1900 Whistler told Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936): 'Before I left America I painted portraits of Annie Denny, my cousin, and Tom Winans.' 2 Whistler stayed at Winans' Baltimore villa, 'Alexandroffsky', in 1854 and again in 1855. 3 However, Winans' journal makes no mention of a portrait. 4

Winans' villa 'Alexandroffsky', Baltimore, photo, Maryland Historical Society

Nor does a photograph of Winans' salon at 'Alexandroffsky' appear to show a portrait by Whistler, although there are several small works that are impossible to identify. The photograph does include a portrait of the elderly Ross Winans (1795-1877) by Francis Augustus Lathrop (1849-1909) at right, and Whistler's Wapping [YMSM 035] on an easel to left of centre. 5