The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

r. and v.: Butterfly date from 1890/1892.

r.: Butterfly, Library of Congress

v.: Butterfly, Library of Congress

They are catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1262).

Images

Subject

Description

r.: Butterfly, Library of Congress

v.: Butterfly, Library of Congress

The butterflies derive from Whistler's monogram 'JW', with, in addition, a barbed tail. They are designs for Whistler 1892 [more]. A cut-out butterfly from the first edition of The Gentle Art of Making Enemies is stuck on the recto. The butterfly on the verso is crossed out.

Technique

Composition

r.: Butterfly, Library of Congress

v.: Butterfly, Library of Congress

Designs for Whistler 1892 [more]. The butterfly on the recto is the signature to 'What "Mr.Whistler had on his own Toast', a letter to the Editor of the Pall Mall Gazette dated 1 August and published on 4 August 1891, regarding a picture at Dowdeswells (Pink and Grey: Three Figures y089), which Whistler had intended to destroy: 'To destroy, is to remain'. The butterfly on the verso was not published.

History

Provenance

• 1890/1892: probably sent by Whistler to William Heinemann (1863-1920), London publisher.
• 1917/1921: given by Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) and Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) to the Library of Congress.

For further details see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1262).

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. 1262) as 'r. and v.: Butterfly'.

Authored by Whistler

• Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, London, 1890, p. i.
• Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, 2nd edition, London and New York, 1892, repr. p. 292.

Websites

• Library of Congress website at https://www.loc.gov.