The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0193
'Nulla dies sine linea': (a) Monk writing; (b) An old man in a nightcap reading; (c) Whistler changing clothes with a 'Pleb'
Date
'Nulla dies sine linea': (a) Monk writing; (b) An old man in a nightcap reading; (c) Whistler changing clothes with a 'Pleb' probably dates from 1855. The document was given to Thomas de Kay Winans (1820-1878).
'Nulla dies sine linea': (a) Monk writing, Metropolitan Museum of Art
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 193).
Images
'Nulla dies sine linea': (a) Monk writing, Metropolitan Museum of Art
'Nulla dies sine linea': (b) An old man in a nightcap reading, Metropolitan Museum of Art
'Nulla dies sine linea': (c) Whistler changing clothes with a 'Pleb', Metropolitan Museum of Art
Subject
Sitter
'Nulla dies sine linea': (b) An old man in a nightcap reading, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The artist, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), depicts himself as an old man.
Technique
Technique
'Nulla dies sine linea': (b) An old man in a nightcap reading, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Se MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 193).
Conservation History
The paper is torn, spotted and soiled.
History
Provenance
- 1853/1854: given to Thomas de Kay Winans (1820-1878);
- 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
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. 193) as " 'Nulla dies sine linea': (a) Monk writing; (b) An old man in a nightcap reading; (c) Whistler changing clothes with a 'Pleb' ".
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, (a) as 'Half-length Figure in a Monk's Cowl (Possibly a Self-portrait)' (b) as 'Two Sketches of Old Man with Books'; (c) as 'Three Men'.