The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0319
Sketch for 'Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony'
Date
Sketch for 'Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony', New York Public Library
Sketch for 'Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony' probably dates from 1864. The inscription and signature, however, date from between 1878 and 1881.
It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 319).
Images
Sketch for 'Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony', New York Public Library
Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Description
Sketch for 'Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony', New York Public Library
Four draped female figures on a balcony looking across a river: from left to right, one is lying down, the next standing, looking over the river, then two are sitting, the first facing forward and the last leaning to left.
Site
The balcony of Whistler's house at Lindsey Row, looking over the Thames to Battersea.
Technique
Composition
Sketch for 'Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony', New York Public Library
Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony, Freer Gallery of Art
This is the earlier of two drawings for Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony y056 and Sketch for 'The Balcony' y057.
History
Provenance
- After 1867: acquired by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904), New York, NY;
- 1900: given to the New York Public Library.
Exhibitions
It was not 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. 319) as "Sketch for 'Variations in Flesh Colour and Green: The Balcony' ".
- Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (oil, cat. no. 56).
Websites
- New York Public Library website at https://digitalcollections.nypl.org.