The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Man looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus dates from between 1849 and 1851, and was given to Whistler's fellow pupil at Christ Church Hall, Pomfret, CT, Samuel Hammond (1835-1896).

Man looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University

This is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 52).

Images

Subject

Description

Man looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University

A long haired man in shirt and short breeks, seen from the back, looking at a faint image on a large stone to right.

Technique

Technique

Man looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 52).

History

Provenance

• 1849/1850: given to Samuel Hammond (1835-1896) at Christ Church Hall, Pomfret, CT;
• 1896: passed by family descent to his son, Samuel Hammond (1859-1934) and daughter-in-law Grace Hammond (1874-1972);
• 1973: given to their son, Professor Mason Hammond (1903-2002), Harvard, MA;
• 2002: passed to the estate of Professor Hammond;
• 2015: anonymous loan and promised gift to the Fogg Museum, Harvard, in honor of Professor Mason Hammond.

For further details see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 41).

Exhibitions

• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 170) as 'Twenty-two Drawings and Sketches done by Mr Whistler while at School in Pomfret, Conn., about 1850'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 52) as 'Man looking at a picture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 170) 'Twenty-two Drawings and Sketches done by Mr Whistler while at school at Pomfret, Conn., about 1850.'

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Oils, Water-colors, Drawings and Prints by James McNeill Whistler, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1934 (cat. no. 43, 44 or 45).

Websites

• Harvard Art Museums website as ''Man Looking at a Picture'.