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

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Girl with Cherry Blossom

Titles

Suggested titles include:

  • Possibly 'apple blossoms' (1878, C. A. Howell). 1
  • 'Girl with cherry blossom' (1904, T. R. Way). 2
  • 'Almond Blossoms' (1934, Robinson & Fisher). 3
  • 'Girl with Cherry Blossom' (1980, YMSM). 4

'Girl with Cherry Blossom' is the generally accepted title.

Description


                    Girl with Cherry Blossom, Private Collection
Girl with Cherry Blossom, Private Collection

A composition in vertical format. A young woman in diaphanous robes, wearing a red patterned kerchief, crouches in profile to right. Her arms reach out to right to tend a small flowering tree in an orange pot standing on a small platform. Behind her is a white fence, and above it, a white awning seen against a blue sky. At upper right is the semi-circular edge of a red parasol. In front, some material is lying on the white carpeted floor.

Sitter

Unknown. The models for what may have been the original painting, The Three Girls [YMSM 088], probably included Matilda Gilchrist (b. 1828 or 1829) and Emelie 'Millie' Eyre Jones (1850-1920) .

Notes:

1: Pennell 1921C [more] , p. 69.

2: Way 1904 [more] , repr. p. 20.

3: Robinson & Fisher, London, auction, 5 April 1934.

4: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 90).

Last updated: 15th December 2020 by Margaret