The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Game of Chess (Gracie's Album, p. 45) dates from between 1851 and 1852. Archibald Gracie jr (1832-1864) was a fellow cadet at West Point.

The Game of Chess, Gracie's Album, p. 45, Freer Gallery of Art

The drawing is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 80).

Images

Subject

Description

The Game of Chess, Gracie's Album, p. 45, Freer Gallery of Art

A game of chess played by two prisoners under the eyes of a uniformed guard, in a room lit by a barred window.

Technique

Technique

The Game of Chess, Gracie's Album, p. 45, Freer Gallery of Art

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 80).

History

Provenance

• 1851/1852: drawn for Archibald Gracie jr (1832-1864);
• 1864: bequeathed to his widow, Josephine Gracie née Mayo (1836-1901);
• 1901: bequeathed to their daughter Adeline Gracie (1864-1948), Baltimore, MD;
• 1907: with David Bendann, Baltimore, 10 January 1907;
• 1908: bought on 3 February by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919);
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Archibald Gracie jr was a West Point graduate who became a Confederate brigadier general and died at the siege of Petersburg during the American civil war.

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 79).

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime. By the terms of Freer's will, it cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 80) as 'The Game of Chess (Gracie's Album, p. 45)'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 208, pl. 141.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website.