The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1187
Women and children outside a Brittany shop
Date
Women and children outside a Brittany shop dates from September or October 1888.
Women and children outside a Brittany shop, Thomas Colville Fine Art
It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1187). The record has been updated.
Images
Women and children outside a Brittany shop, Thomas Colville Fine Art
Subject
Site
Women and children outside a Brittany shop, Thomas Colville Fine Art
Probably painted in Brittany, France, where the Whistlers were on honeymoon.
Technique
Technique
Women and children outside a Brittany shop, Thomas Colville Fine Art
The composition is simple, comprising an isolated, rectangular shop front with glittering, many-paned windows, and a group of women and children, exquisitely detailed. The predominant colours are pale, greenish tones over beige, with delicate touches of white and pink dropped onto the babies, and pale blues and purples on the women. A fine pointed brush was used to fill in the dark shadows in the windows, leaving tiny dots of light, showing the weave of the linen.
History
Provenance
- 1903: in the artist's studio at his death, and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
- 1943: sold to Colnaghi's, London art dealers, March 1943 [#11787];
- 1943: sold to Villiers David (1906-1985), London, 30 April 1943;
- 1985: sold at auction, Christie's, New York, 6 December 1985 (lot 182, repr.) as 'Women and Children at a Shop Door', bought by a private collector;
- 2012: sold at auction, Sotheby's, New York, 29 November 2012 (lot 48).
- By 2015: Thomas Colville Fine Art, New York and Guilford, CT.
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. 1187) as 'Women and children outside a Brittany shop'.
Books on Whistler
- Blagoy Kiroff with Rakuten Kobo, James Whistler: 180 Master Drawings, Kindle, 2015.
- Maria Peitcheva, Whistler: Drawings, Kindle, 2016.
Catalogues 1906-Present
EXHIBITION:
- ADAA Art Show, The Park Avenue Armory, New York, 2015.
SALE:
- Christie's, New York, 6 December 1985 (lot 182, repr.)
- Sotheby's, New York, 29 November 2012 (lot 48) .
Websites
- 'The ADAA Art Show Opens At The Park Avenue Armory', March 2015, website.
- 'American and European Figurative Paintings', Thomas Colville Fine Art, 2018, website.