The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Black and Red: The Egyptian dates from 1890/1892

Black and Red: The Egyptian, The Hunterian

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1275).

Images

Subject

Titles

• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 129) as 'Black and Red: – The Egyptian'.

The title comes from Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), but in view of her long association with Whistler, it could be correct. The colour, and the pose of the figure, with the head in extreme profile, have obvious parallels in Egyptian art.

Technique

Composition

Black and Red: The Egyptian, The Hunterian

The two figures commisioned by Henry Cole (1808-1882) in 1872 for arches in South Kensington Museum were: 'a Japanese art worker' and 'Neath, the Egyptian Goddess of the Spindle'. ¹ Net (or Neith) was a virgin goddess, self-begotten, mother of the gods, usually shown with bow and arrows or a distaff. For the 'Japanese art worker' Whistler drew models in kimonos (r.: A Japanese Woman; v.: Girl with parasol m0458, Japanese lady decorating a fan m0460). He never completed the commission but years later made this, the only extant drawing with Egyptian associations.

Technique

Black and Red: The Egyptian, The Hunterian

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1275).

History

Provenance

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

Exhibitions

• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 129) as 'Black and Red: – The Egyptian'.

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 'Black and Red: The Egyptian'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 129) as 'Black and Red: – The Egyptian'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Aquarellen, Pastels, Teekingen, Etsen, Lithographien en een Schilderij door James McNeill Whistler, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1906 (cat. no. 20) as 'Black and Red, The Egyptian'.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk.