The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0261
Le Rhin
Date
Le Rhin dates from between August and October 1858 and was probably given to Deborah Delano Haden (1825-1908) or her husband Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910).
Le Rhin, Freer Gallery of Art
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 261).
Images
Le Rhin, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Site
Le Rhin, Freer Gallery of Art
A sketch on a riverboat on the Rhine in Germany.
Comments
The pile of luggage includes a paperback novel bearing the title 'La Foire aux Vanités', a translation of Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863). It was originally published in English in Punch from 1847-1848, and in book form in London in 1853. The French translation by Georges Guiffrey, published by Hachette, Paris, in 1855, is probably what is depicted. 1
Technique
Technique
Le Rhin, Freer Gallery of Art
See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 261) .
Conservation History
The sheet was probably taken from a sketchbook. Over fifty drawings, many in sketchbooks, most of which dated from 1857-1858, were apparently given to Whistler's half-sister Deborah and/or her husband, Francis Seymour Haden, and were later removed from the sketchbooks.
History
Provenance
- 1858: probably given to Deborah Delano Haden (1825-1908) or her husband Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910);
- 1898: sold through Wunderlich, New York dealers, to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919);
- 1919: bequeathed by C. L. Freer to the Freer Gallery of Art.
See further details in r.: Les Côtes à Dieppe; v.: Cliffs and building m0222.
Exhibitions
It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.
Due to the conditions 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. 261) as 'Le Rhin'.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 219, pl. 167.
Websites
- Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1898.200, as 'Le Rhin'.
Notes:
1: The inscription does not read 'La Poire aux Vanitee' nor does it refer to 'the recently deposed Louis-Philippe', as suggested in the Freer Gallery of Art website.