Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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A Girl by a Shelf

Provenance

Whistler knew the Coronios in the early 1860s, and was a neighbour in the 1870s. In one letter to Mme Coronio Whistler mentioned that 'John's picture' (which might have been a portrait, or the one under discussion) was 'nearly finished.' 1

It does not look as if the Coronios ever retrieved this painting. About 1889 Whistler mentioned a painting once owned by Mme Coronio, presumably this one, that 'it was my misfortune so long ago to destroy'. 2

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Notes:

1: [May 1862/1867], GUW #00794.

2: GUW #00693. Way 1912 [more], pp. 97-98.

Last updated: 28th November 2019 by Margaret