The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

M.0337
Nelly

Nelly

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1866/1870
Collection: Colby College Museum of Art
Accession Number: 011.2006
Medium: pencil
Support: blue paper
Size: 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" (216 x 140 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: 'Nelly. -'

Date

Nelly dates from 1866/1870 and was signed with a butterfly many years later, 1888/1890.

Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art
Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 337). This record has been updated.

Images

Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art
Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art

Subject

Sitter

Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art
Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art

Helen ('Nellie') Euphrosyne Whistler (1849-1917), then Miss Ionides. In 1877 she married Whistler's brother William McNeill Whistler (1836-1900).

Technique

Technique

Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art
Nelly, Colby College Museum of Art

The signature is a much later addition, probably dating from 1888 or shortly afterwards.

History

Provenance

The early provenance is unknown and the later provenance has some gaps. The Pennells mistakenly stated that it was still owned by Hodson in 1908. 1 However, a photograph in the Pennell Collection, Library of Congress, is annotated 'C. Rothenstein', who has not been identified.

Joseph Whistler Revillon (1886-1955) made notes on a drawing of 'Nelly', probably this, and suggested that it was owned by 'Ickenheimer' or 'Ickleheimer'. Revillon was certainly in touch with Pauline Lehman, wife of Henry R. Ickelheimer of Heidelbach, Ickelheimer & Co., New York, but there is no verification of this. 2

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 337); this record has been amended and updated.

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

Books on Whistler

Catalogues 1906-Present

SALE:

Websites


Notes:

1: Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, repr. f.p. 242.

2: J. W. Revillon, [n.d.], typescript notes on drawing of 'Nelly', GUL MS Revillon 3/21, and undated drafts of letters, MS Revillon 3/27. Photocopy of letter from Emilie Thouvenel, Secretary to Mrs Henry Ickelheimer to Joseph Whistler Revillon, 300 Park Avenue, New York, 9 October 1945, MS Revillon 3/188.