The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1366
Peasant women standing under a tree
Date
Peasant women standing under a tree dates from July or August 1893.
Peasant women standing under a tree, Private Collection
It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1366).
Images
Peasant women standing under a tree, Private Collection
Subject
Site
Peasant women standing under a tree, Private Collection
Brittany, France.
Technique
Technique
Peasant women standing under a tree, Private Collection
Sombre greys and browns are illuminated by patches of bright blue sky seen through the scudding clouds, and touches of red in the women's attire. The paper looks like medium weight laid paper. It was painted very freely, the washes allowed to drip and blur, as they do to particular effect in the stormy sky. A pointed brush was wriggled around, leaving areas of paper or previous washes bare.
History
Provenance
- 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his sister-in-law Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
- 1943: possibly bought by Colnaghi's, London art dealers, on 28 June 1943, as 'Breton Fisherwomen';
- 1943: bought by a private collector on 28 June but sold soon afterwards.
- 1971: with Colnaghi's, and sold through Davis & Long, New York dealers, to Mr and Mrs Ralph Spencer, New York;
- 1977: sold though Davis & Long to a private collector;
- 1981: sold though Davis & Long to another private collector.
See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1366).
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. 1366) as 'Peasant women standing under a tree'.