The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

M.1304
A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa

A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1891/1892
Collection: The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
Accession Number: GLAHA 46161
Medium: r.: pen and purple ink; v.: lithographic crayon
Support: thin transparent transfer paper with blind stamp 'IMPRIME PAR / BELFOND & CIE / PARIS', edge-mounted on ivory card
Size: 9 x 11 5/8" (229 x 295 mm)
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: none

Date

A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa was originally intended as a lithograph, which may have been drawn in Paris in late October or early November 1891. 1 It is dated by comparison with several lithographs including Mother and Child, No. 3 c052, Mother and Child, No. 2 c053 and Mother and Child, No. 4 c054. However, the pen drawing may have been done later (Whistler used purple ink during the period 1892-1894).

A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian
A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1304).

Images

A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian
A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian

Subject

Sitter

A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian
A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian

Possibly Rose Amy Pettigrew (1872-1958) and her niece.

Technique

Technique

It was, lik

A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian
A woman and a baby asleep on a sofa, The Hunterian

e Mother and child reclining m1305, drawn on thin transparent transfer paper prepared by Henri Belfond (fl. 1891-1894) of the Imprimerie Belfond & Cie, with gum coating on the side intended for a drawing in lithographic crayon. By mistake, Whistler drew on the un-gummed side, and as a result the crayon drawing could not be transferred to stone and printed. Instead, as Spink et al point out, he carefully drew over the composition in pen and ink, probably on the gummed side. 2

History

Provenance

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

Websites


Notes:

1: Spink 1998 [more], at vol. 1, 'Untransferred Lithographic Drawings', p. 503 (cat. no. V).

2: Spink 1998 [more], at vol. 1, 'Untransferred Lithographic Drawings', p. 503 (cat. no. V).