The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Caricatures of figure and peacocks (or possibly grasshoppers) were drawn on the verso of a letter from Frederick Richards Leyland (1832-1892) to Whistler dated 1 November 1876, in which Leyland refused to pay more than £1000 for the decoration of Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room y178. ¹

Caricatures of figure and peacocks, Glasgow University Library

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 652).

Images

Subject

Description

Caricatures of figure and peacocks, Glasgow University Library

The sketches are very rough. In the centre is either a figure, walking to right, or a peacock with tail trailing behind, and on the right, two peacocks.

Technique

Composition

Caricatures of figure and peacocks, Glasgow University Library

Fighting Peacocks, Glasgow University Library

Cartoon of rich and poor Peacocks, The Hunterian

These may be related to the panel of two peacocks on the end wall of Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room y178. There are several other sketches including Fighting Peacocks m0583. The full design is Cartoon of rich and poor Peacocks m0584.

Technique

Caricatures of figure and peacocks, Glasgow University Library

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 652).

Conservation History

The sheet has been folded in three and is both discoloured and abraded at the folds.

History

Provenance

• 1903: In Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his sister-in-law and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1955: given by Miss Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

No exhibitions are known or likely.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 652) as 'Caricatures of figure and peacocks'.

Websites

• The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903, edited by Margaret F. MacDonald, Patricia de Montfort and Nigel Thorp; including The Correspondence of Anna McNeill Whistler, 1855-1880, edited by Georgia Toutziari. Online edition, University of Glasgow. GUW #02578.