The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Vénus Astarté dates from 1888/1890

Vénus Astarté, Freer Gallery of Art

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1232).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Vénus Astarté, Freer Gallery of Art

The model has not been identified. She was not, as has been suggested, Loie Fuller (1862-1928).

Technique

Technique

Vénus Astarté, Freer Gallery of Art

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1232).

History

Provenance

• By 1892: owned by Thomas Glen Arthur (1858-1907), Glasgow.
• 1904: bought from Alexander Reid (1854-1928), Glasgow art dealer, by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919);
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1232).

Exhibitions

• 1892: 31st Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Glasgow, 1892 (cat. no. 693) as 'The Birth of Venus'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 132) as 'Vénus Astarté'.

Reviews of the 1892 exhibition appeared in the Glasgow Evening Times on 29 January 1892 and the Dundee Advertiser on the following day. The latter considered Whistler's exhibits 'beautiful' and 'full of the refinement which distinguishes the best work of this much-criticized artist.'

By the terms of Freer's will, this work cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1232) as 'Vénus Astarté'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 31st Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, Glasgow, 1892 (cat. no. 693) as 'The Birth of Venus'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 132) as 'Vénus Astarté'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., Glasgow Evening Times, Glasgow, 29 January 1892.
• Anon., 'Glasgow Fine Art Exhibition, Dundee Advertiser, Dundee, 30 January 1892, p. 4.

Journals 1855-1905

• Sickert, Oswald, ‘The Oil Paintings of James McNeill Whistler’, The Studio, vol. 30, October 1903, pp. 3-10.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 278, pl. 281.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1904.65a-c.