The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0140
r.: A Monk with a donkey, and a reclining figure; v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women
Date
r.: A Monk with a donkey, and a reclining figure; v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women date from 1853/1854. It was given by Whistler to Thomas de Kay Winans (1820-1878) and family, and put into an album.
v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women, Metropolitan Museum of Art
r.: A Monk with a donkey, and a reclining figure, Metropolitan Museum of Art
They are fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 140).
Images
v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women, Metropolitan Museum of Art
v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Subject
Description
r.: A Monk with a donkey, and a reclining figure, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The monk in long robe stands at right looking down at a woman dressed in man's clothes leaning against a boulder on the right.It is not clear whether the monk is a samaritan, offering assistance.
Technique
Technique
v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women, Metropolitan Museum of Art
v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women, Metropolitan Museum of Art
See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 140).
Conservation History
The drawing was originally stuck into an album.
History
Provenance
- 1853/1854: given to Thomas de Kay Winans (1820-1878) and family;
- 1878-1970: passed by family descent to his daughter Celeste Marguerite Winans (Mrs G. M. Hutton) (1855-1925), her daughter Lucette Marguerite Hutton, Mrs H. A. Prichard (1885-1957), and grand-daughters, Margaret Celeste Prichard, Mrs T. A. Buell (1908-1970), Helen Lucette Prichard, Mrs J. M. King (1913-2005), and Sybil Agnes Prichard, Mrs E. G. Walk (1915-2009);
- 1970: given by Margaret C. Buell, Helen L. King, and Sybil A. Walk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Exhibitions
It was not, as far as is known, 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. 140) as 'r.: A Monk with a donkey, and a reclining figure; v.: a mediaeval lady, and other heads of men and women'.
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.
Websites
- Metropolitan Museum of Art website as 'Man with Donkey and Reclining Boy (Recto); Two Areas Blocked in Blue: Head of Man, Female Head and Head (Verso)'.