The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Convalescent or Petit Déjeuner; note in opal dates from 1883/1884.

Convalescent, Private Collection

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 903).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Convalescent , Private Collection

Maud Franklin (1857-1939).

Technique

Composition

Convalescent , Private Collection

Maud reading in bed, Hood Museum of Art

Maud reading in bed m0902 and Convalescent or Petit Déjeuner; note in opal m0903 are closely related compositions.

History

Provenance

• 1884: bought from Messrs Dowdeswell by Isaac Lennox Browne (1841-1902) , throat specialist, London, 25 October 1884;
• Before 1888: acquired by John McIntyre (1859-1928), nose and throat specialist, Glasgow;
• 1928: sold at auction, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, 1929;
• 1929: Alexander Reid (1854-1928), Glasgow, and Knoedler's, New York, held joint ownership from 6 June 1929;
• 1929: sold to Daniel Haddock Carstairs (b. 1862), Germantown, PA, October 1929;
• 1933: returned and sold in July by Knoedler's to Arthur Ronald Lambert Field Tree (1897-1976);
• 1976: bequeathed to a private collector.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 903).

Exhibitions

• 1884: probably 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 13) as 'Petit Déjeuner; note in opal'.
• 1899: Thirty-eighth Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Glasgow, 1899 (cat. no. 538) as 'Convalescent'.
• 1903: Spring Exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 214, repr.).
• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 48, repr.) as 'The Convalescent'.

The Daily News of 21 May 1884 commented that 'A fine frowsiness is delicately conveyed'. Reviewers included Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921) and Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942). ¹

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 903) as 'Convalescent' or 'Petit Déjeuner; note in opal'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Probably 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 13) as 'Petit Déjeuner; note in opal'.
• Thirty-eighth Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Glasgow, 1899 (cat. no. 538) as .Convalescent'.
• Spring Exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London, 1903 (cat. no. 214, repr.).
• Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 48, repr.) as 'The Convalescent'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., 'Mr. Whistler's Gallery', Daily News, London, 21 May 1884, p. 7.
• Anon., 'Messrs Dowdeswell's Gallery', The Morning Post, London, 24 May 1884, p. 5.

Journals 1906-Present

• Wedmore, Frederick, ‘Mr Whistler's Arrangement in Flesh Colour and Gray’, The Academy, vol. 25, 24 May 1884, p. 374.
• ‘An Enthusiast’, [Sickert, W. R.], 'Mr Whistler and His Art', Artist, vol. 5, 1 June 1884, p. 199-201.