The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Little Blue Cap dates from 1894/1895.

The Little Blue Cap, Art Institute of Chicago

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1393). This entry has been updated.

Images

Subject

Sitter

The Little Blue Cap, Art Institute of Chicago

Unknown; possibly the same model as in Blue and Gold - The Rose Azalea m1392.

Technique

Composition

The Little Blue Cap, Art Institute of Chicago

Blue and Gold - The Rose Azalea, Freer Gallery of Art

Blue and Gold - The Rose Azalea m1392 and The Little Blue Cap m1393 are closely related.

Technique

The paper is grey-brown in colour, fibrous, with bits of wood-stalk visible. The drawing was done in charcoal, with great freedom. Sharp brushstrokes radiate from her shoulder. Her shoulders were carefully outlined. Paint was applied carefully between the outlines and a white wash was used for the background. ¹

History

Provenance

• 1903: In Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1956: bought by Colnaghi's, London art dealers, 20 November 1956;
• 1956: sold to Muriel Thetis Wilson (Mrs Richard Warde) (1871-1964);
• 1965: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 5 March 1965 (lot 141A, repr.) as 'The Little Blue Cap', bought by Agnew's, London dealers, on behalf of Dorothy Braude Edinburg (1921-2015);
• 2012: gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection, Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 93) as 'The little Blue Cap'.
• 1906: Aquarellen, Pastels, Teekingen, Etsen, Lithographien en een Schilderij door James McNeill Whistler, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1906 (cat. no. 5).

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1393) as 'The Little Blue Cap'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 93) as 'The little Blue Cap'.
• Aquarellen, Pastels, Teekingen, Etsen, Lithographien en een Schilderij door James McNeill Whistler, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1906 (cat. no. 5).

Websites

• Art Institute of Chicago website.
• 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. 32).