The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

r.: The Fortune Teller; v.: A nude lying on a sofa dates from 1890/1892.

r.: The Fortune Teller, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1274).

Images

Subject

Sitter

The Fortune Teller, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) told Harold Wright (1885-1961) of Colnaghi's that the model was one of the Pettigrew sisters, Harriet ('Hettie') Pettigrew (1869-1953), Lilian Pettigrew (b. 1870) or Rose Amy Pettigrew (1872-1958).

Technique

Composition

The Fortune Teller, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

In 1894, Whistler refused to rework a pastel, probably this. Writing to Alexander Reid (1854-1928) he said:

'I have had not [a] moment before in which I could tell you that your propositions about the pastel is no such simple matter as you seem to think -

The picture is complete as it stands ...

But to change it by the further work you suggest, is quite another affair -

I should have to take a model and look over the whole thing - and the end of it would be a new picture that I might as well do on a new paper.' ¹

Technique

The Fortune Teller, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1275) as 'The Fortune Teller'.

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death, and bequeathed to his sister-in-law and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) ;
• 1935: given by Miss R. Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

It was not, as far as is known, exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

By the terms of Miss Birnie Philip's Gift, 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. 1275) as 'r.: The Fortune Teller; v.: A nude lying on a sofa'.

Books on Whistler

• Walker, John, James McNeill Whistler, New York, 1987, p. 125, repr. p. 124.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• MacDonald, Margaret F., Whistler Pastels and Related Works in the Hunterian Art Gallery, Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, 1984 (cat. no. 9).

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.
• 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. On-line edition, University of Glasgow, 2003-2004. GUW #03244.