The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Head of a girl dates from 1882/1883.

Head of a girl, Art Institute of Chicago

Fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 870).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Head of a girl, Art Institute of Chicago

The sitter has not been identified. At one time thought to be a portrait of 'Jo', this is certainly not a portrait of Joanna Hiffernan (b. ca 1843-d.1886).

Technique

Technique

Head of a girl, Art Institute of Chicago

See Stephanie L. Strother, 'Cat. 24 Head of a Girl, c. 1882: Curatorial Entry,' in Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website. ¹

Conservation History

The edges of the sheet are slightly uneven, and there is paper loss at upper right.

History

Provenance

• 1929: bought in December from Albert Louis Roullier (1858-1920), Chicago art dealer, by Kate L. Brewster (née Lancaster) ca 1879-1947), Chicago;
• 1933: given by her husband, Walter Stanton Brewster (1872-1954) to the Art Institute of Chicago.

The earlier provenance is unknown.

Exhibitions

It was not 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. 870) as 'Head of a girl'.

Websites

• Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 24).