The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1376
Green and Blue: The Dancer
Date
Green and Blue: The Dancer dates from about 1893.
Green and Blue: The Dancer, Art Institute of Chicago
It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1376).
Images
Green and Blue: The Dancer, Art Institute of Chicago
Subject
Sitter
Green and Blue: The Dancer, Art Institute of Chicago
The model has not been identified.
Comments
Stephanie Strother suggests that Green and Blue: The Dancer and The Little Blue Cap m1393 are
'evocative of the ancient Greek Tanagra figurines that were enthusiastically collected in Europe ... Whistler greatly admired Tanagras, and he kept an album of photographs of those owned by his friend Alexander Ionides. He would have also been aware of examples of dancing terra-cotta figures, such as the well-known Danseuse Titeux in the Louvre’s collection.' 1
Greek terracotta figure, photograph, The Hunterian
A photograph from the Ionides Album, from Whistler's collection, is reproduced above.
Technique
Composition
Green and Blue: The Dancer, Art Institute of Chicago
A model in similar costume is seen in lithographs such as The Draped Figure, Back View c077. Several earlier studies of dancing girls, started in chalk or pastels and completed in gouache, relate to this watercolour (Grey and Pink m1209 and The Rose Drapery m1213).
Technique
The figure was drawn first in charcoal on the prepared board. There are some hard edged, full brush strokes down her leg and at the bottom of the drapes, and dark accents, shadows, under her chin and foot. Other areas are soft and glowing where the colours coat the fibres. 2
A sharp vertical cut or indentation in the paper which goes through her elbow made the brush jump and caused a break in the wash.
History
Provenance
- 1903: sold by Whistler to Richard Albert Canfield (1855-1914), 8 May 1903;
- 1914: bought by Knoedler's, New York art dealers, 12 March 1914;
- 1914: bought by Arthur Harris Whittemore (1864-1927), 30 April 1914;
- 1927: passed to the J. H. Whittemore Company;
- 1985: sold at auction, Christie's, New York, 6 December 1985 (lot 178, repr.), bought by Peter Terian, New York dealer.
- 1988: bought from David Nisinson, New York dealer, by the Art Institute of Chicago, restricted gift of Dr William D. Storey, through prior acquisitions of the Charles Deering Collection and the bequest of Mrs Gordon Palmer.
See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1376).
Exhibitions
- 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 96) as 'Green and Blue "The Dancer" '.
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1376) as 'Green and Blue: The Dancer'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 96) as 'Green and Blue "The Dancer" '.
Websites
- Art Institute of Chicago website at https://www.artic.edu.
- Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 31).
Notes:
1: Stephanie L. Strother, 'Cats. 31-32 Green and Blue: The Dancer and The Little Blue Cap: Curatorial Entry,' in Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 31); Danseuse Titeux repr. fig. 31-32.2.
2: The initial drawing was in charcoal rather than chalk, as previously (1995) suggested. See Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 31).