The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Song of the Graduates dates from the Spring of 1852, and was drawn for publication as a music cover, while Whistler was at West Point.

Sarony & Major lith., Song of the Graduates, Firth, Pond & Co., New York, 1852

The published cover reads 'UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY / SONG OF THE GRADUATES./ 1852./ MUSIC BY APELLES./ WORDS BY A CADET.' and below the decorative border, 'DESIGNED BY CADET WHISTLER.' The drawing was lithographed by Sarony & Major, printed in black ink on cream or ivory wove paper, and published by Firth, Pond & Co., New York, 1852.

Copies of the cover are in several collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago 91933.281), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1985.1161.17), Boston Museum of Fine Art (1991.829) and National Gallery of Art, DC (1948.11.307). The size of the sheet is about 13 1/16 x 10 1/16" (33.2 x 25.6 cm) and the image size 336 x 222 mm.

The drawing has not been located.

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 108).

Images

Subject

Site

Sarony & Major lith., Song of the Graduates, Firth, Pond & Co., New York, 1852

The river walk at West Point, with a panoramic view of the Hudson. This is Whistler's sole extant West Point landscape, and it is impossible to tell if it was drawn from nature or copied from a print. He studied topography under Robert Walter Weir (1803-1889).

Sitter

According to a fellow cadet at West Point, John Logan Black (1830-1902), the two figures were Edward Porter Alexander (1835-1910) and James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). ¹ The drawing was reproduced in a song sheet, the figures representing a cadet and a graduate from the United States Military Academy.

Technique

Technique

Sarony & Major lith., Song of the Graduates, Firth, Pond & Co., New York, 1852

Whistler's drawing was lithographed by the lithographic partnership of Napoleon Sarony (1921-1896) and Henry B. Major (1820-1887). It was printed with a decorative border and text as seen in the illustration above, and published by Firth, Pond & Co., New York, 1852.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 108).

History

Provenance

Unknown. The drawing was lithographed by Sarony & Major, printed in black ink on cream or ivory wove paper, and published by Firth, Pond & Co., New York, 1852.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 108).

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 108) as 'Song of the Graduates'.

Websites

• Art Institute of Chicago website.
• Museum of Fine Art, Boston, website.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art website.
• National Gallery of Art website.