The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

M.1165
House with a tower

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1887
Collection: Glasgow University Library
Accession Number: MS Whistler R206-09
Medium: pencil
Support: cream blue-lined laid paper, watermark of a shield bearing three flowers, two above and one below an inverted 'V'
Size: 12 7/8 x 8" (327 x 203 mm)
Signature: none
Inscription: draft of letter from Whistler to the Royal Society of British Artusts, sheet numbered '3'

Date

House with a tower was drawn on the verso of the draft of a letter from Whistler (written by Charles James Whistler Hanson (1870-1935)), to the Royal Society of British Artusts, between 4 October and 1 November 1887. ¹

House with a tower, Glasgow University Library

The sketch is not related to the letter.

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1165).

Images

House with a tower, Glasgow University Library

Subject

Description

A faint sketch of a balcony or shrine high up on a wall, next to a door or arched window.

Technique

Conservation History

The draft was written by Charles Hanson on three sheets of paper, the final foolscap sheet, numbered '3', containing the faint sketch. The sheet has been repeatedly folded and is very dirty, making it difficult to make out the sketch.

History

Provenance

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

Exhibitions

There is no record of an exhibition 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. 1165) as 'House with a tower'.

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, 2003-2004, GUW #05313.

Notes:

1: GUW #05313.