The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Mrs Leyland dates from 1873/1875.

Mrs Leyland, Private collection

The drawing is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 545).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Mrs Leyland, private collection

Frances Leyland (1834-1910).

Technique

Technique

Mrs Leyland, private collection

The figure is outlined with broken, often angular lines. The dress was shaded with cross-hatched lines, contrasting with the chair and shadows with large areas of vertical regular shading.

Conservation History

The paper is slightly foxed.

History

Provenance

• 1892: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 28 May 1892 (lot 1) as 'A Lady, seated in a chair'.
• 1903-1904: with William Stephen Marchant (1868-1925), London dealer.
• 1968: 'Mrs. Leyland' was sold in February by the Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich.

When this was sold in 1892, Whistler commented:

'The drawings in the Leyland sale can only be very slight notes on brown paper left by accident at Speke Hall - or given carelessly to the children - with the exception perhaps of the pen and ink of the back view of a lady - This I fancy might be a sketch I did of Mrs. Leyland - but you must be careful - for it was reproduced by photograph - & I don't remember whether I had the original drawing and this would only be a facsimile - The late Mr Leyland never bought anything of mine of this kind at all.' ¹

The provenance is minimal: it is possible that the drawing was in France for some years after 1904, and it was certainly in Germany by 1968.

Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 545).

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 545) as 'Mrs Leyland'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 1903-1904: possibly Watercolours, Pastels, Drawings in Black and White, Sculptures and Bronzes By British and Foreign Artists Including A Selection of Works by H. B. Brabazon, and A Group of Works by the late James McNeill Whistler, W. Marchant & Co., Goupil Gallery, London, 1903 and 1904.

Books on Whistler

• Duret, Théodore, Histoire de J. McN. Whistler et de son oeuvre, Paris, 1904, repr. p. 131 as 'Mme Leyland'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Galerie Ketterer, Munich, 1968 (cat. no. 1870) as 'Mrs. Leyland'.

Journals 1906-Present

• Gasquet, Joachim, 'La Vie Intellectuelle', L'Amour de L'Art, May 1920, pp. 89-92, repr.p.89 as 'Dessin de Whistler'.