The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0337
Nelly
Date
Nelly dates from 1866/1870 and was signed with a butterfly many years later, 1888/1890.
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
Subject
Sitter
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
The signature is a much later addition, probably dating from 1888 or shortly afterwards.
History
Provenance
- 1888/1890: signed by Whistler, possibly for a collector or art dealer unknown.
- By 1905: owned by Laurence W. Hodson (1864-1933), Compton Hall, Wolverhampton;
- 1906: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 25 June 1906 (lot 136) bought by Agnew's or Colnaghi's, London dealers.
- Before 1936: possibly owned at some time by 'C. Rothenstein'.
- 1940s: possibly owned at some time by Henry Ruben Ickelheimer (1868-1940) or his wife Pauline Ickelheimer née Lehman (1893-1961), New York.
- Before 1986: it had been owned at some time, according to Sotheby's, 1986, by Mrs Harry Baird, New York;
- 1986: bought at Sotheby's, New York, 29 May 1986 (lot 142) by Mrs Carroll Petrie (d. 2015);
- 2006: sold at Sotheby's, New York, 1 March 2006 (lot 9).
- 2011: given by Peter H. Lunder (b. 1933) and Paula Crane Lunder (b. 1935) to Colby College Museum of Art.
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
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 337) as 'Nelly'.
Books on Whistler
- Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, repr. f.p. 242.
Catalogues 1906-Present
SALE:
- Christie's, London, 25 June 1906 (lot 136).
- Sotheby's, New York, 29 May 1986 (lot 142).
- Sotheby's, New York, 1 March 2006 (lot 9, repr).
Websites
- Colby College Museum of Art website at https://www.colby.edu/museum.
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.