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

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Portrait of Sir Henry Cole

Provenance

  • 1879: bought by Thomas Way (1837-1915) , London;
  • 1897?: returned to Whistler.

According to the Pennells, it was one of the 'large six-foot full-length portraits' bought by one of Whistler's chief creditors, the lithographic printer Thomas Way, after Whistler's bankruptcy in 1879, and returned to Whistler later. 1 It may have been among the '10 large canvas portraits, 10 small canvases & 7 blank canvases' returned to the artist at the time of Way's final settlement with Whistler in August 1897. 2 Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), the artist's executrix, told the Pennells that it was burned. 3

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Notes:

1: Pennell 1921C [more] , p. 134.

2: G. & W. Webb to Whistler, 11 August 1897, GUW #06241.

3: Pennell 1908 [more] , vol. 1, pp. 200-01.

Last updated: 13th November 2019 by Margaret