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

 

M.1254
r.: Three butterflies; v.: Four butterflies

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1890
Collection: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Accession Number: F1904.449
Medium: pencil and white paint
Support: off-white wove paper laid down on card
Size: 11 1/8-11 1/4 x 8 5/8-8 3/4" (283-285 x 219-222 mm)
Signature: butterflies
Inscription: none

r.: Three butterflies; v.: Four butterflies

Provenance

  • 1890: probably sent by Whistler to William Heinemann (1863-1920) , London publisher.
  • 1904: bought from Obach, London art dealers, by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) , Detroit;
  • 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1251).

Exhibitions

By the terms of Freer's will, this work cannot be lent to another venue.

Last updated: 19th March 2021 by Margaret