The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0697
Study of a seated girl
Date
Study of a seated girl dates from about 1878.
Study of a seated girl, Lady Lever Art Gallery
The drawing is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 697).
Images
Study of a seated girl, Lady Lever Art Gallery
Woman seated, back view, The Courtauld Institute of Art
Subject
Sitter
Unknown.
Comments
Study of a seated girl, Lady Lever Art Gallery
Woman seated, back view, The Courtauld Institute of Art
A similar study, probably a copy of Study of a seated girl m0697, and known as 'Woman seated, back view' or 'Back View of a Girl Seated', has been exhibited as by Whistler, but is not by his hand, nor signed by him. 1
Another figure study with a Dowdeswell provenance, A Study m0416, also had copies or variants by another hand. The firm was involved in acquiring drawings and canvases that might have been by Greaves or Whistler, or by Whistler touched up by Greaves.
Technique
Technique
The technique is not entirely consistent with Whistler's work, with multiple repeated outlines and a mixture of flowing outline and areas of stiff shading. It was a quick sketch, and it may be perfectly authentic. On the other hand, it could have been drawn by his 'follower' and 'pupil', Walter Greaves (1846-1930).
History
Provenance
- Date unknown: with Charles William Dowdeswell (1832-1915), London dealer (label).
- 1911: sold by Obach & Co., London art dealers, at auction, Christie's, London, 21 July 1911 (lot 78) as 'A Girl' and bought by Wallis and Sons, London dealers (see also A seated lady m0692);
- 1912: said to have been with David Croal Thomson (1855-1930), London dealer;
- 1918: sold at auction, Wallis sale, Christie's, London, 10 May 1918 (lot 108) and bought by Gooden and Fox, London dealers, for William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851-1925);
- 1925: bequeathed to the Lady Lever Art Gallery.
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. 697) as 'Study of a seated girl'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Christie's, London, 21 July 1911 (lot 78) as 'A Girl''
- Wallis sale, Christie's, London, 10 May 1918 (lot 108).
Notes:
1: See Young, A. McLaren, James McNeill Whistler, Arts Council Gallery, London, and Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1960 (cat. no. 122) and A Private Collection of late 19th and 20th Century Paintings and Sculpture, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1983 (cat. no. 73, repr.).