The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Heads of two men dates from between August and October 1858 and was probably given to Whistler's half-sister Deborah Delano Haden (1825-1908) or her husband Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910).

It is

Heads of two men, Freer Gallery of Art

fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 265).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Heads of two men, Freer Gallery of Art

It is possible the man on the left is Whistler's travel companion, Ernest Delannoy (d. 1869/1872).

Technique

Technique

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. 265) as 'Heads of two men'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 212, pl. 153.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1898.170, as 'Heads of two men'.