The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Head of a man, drawn between 1849 and 1851, was given to Whistler's schoolmate Edward Lawrence Hyde (1835-1917) at Christ Church Hall, Pomfret, CT.

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 35). This entry has been revised.

Images

Subject

Description

The head of a man in three-quarter view to left. Only his features are shown, not his hair, except for a small moustache and pointed goatee beard.

Sitter

Unknown.

Technique

Technique

It is drawn very neatly, with a fine nib, on smooth medium weight wove rag paper.

Conservation History

The paper appears to be browned or to be a pale beige in colour. It is slightly stained.

History

Provenance

• 1849/1851: given to Whistler's schoolmate Edward Lawrence Hyde (1835-1917), in Pomfret, CT;
• 1917: bequeathed to his wife Imogine Adell Hyde née Clarke (b. 1847);
• By 1924: according to her niece Mary E. Hyde, Boston, given to her sister in California.
• 1936: owned by her sisters Laura, Bessie and Lillian Hyde in California, and passed by family descent to Silvia Hyde Rhodes, then to Imogene Hyde Alexieff (1907-1995), Mrs Theodore Stephen Alexieff; and to her son Stephen Theodore Alexieff (b. 1932);
• 1994: gift of Steven P. Alexeiff in honour of Professor and Mrs Albert Simonson to Rhode Island School of Design.

Photostats of drawings owned by Edward L. Hyde were sent to Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) in 1924.

Exhibitions

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 35) as 'Head of a man'.

Journals 1906-Present

• Pressly, Nancy D., 'Whistler in America: An Album of Early Drawings', Metropolitan Museum Journal, New York, vol. 5, 1972, pp. 125-54 (no. 11b).

Websites

• RISD website at https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection as 'Head of a Bearded Man'.