The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Rose and Silver: Portrait of Mrs Whibley dates from 1894/1895.

Rose and Silver: Portrait of Mrs Whibley, Freer Gallery of Art

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1415).

Images

Subject

Sitter

Rose and Silver: Portrait of Mrs Whibley, Freer Gallery of Art

Ethel Whibley (1861-1920).

Technique

Technique

Rose and Silver: Portrait of Mrs Whibley, Freer Gallery of Art

It was painted in watercolour and bodycolour on fibrous pastel paper that has a fine vertical grain. It has a fine surface, but also long fibres, which show where Whistler made alterations, as in the work on her hat. The paint was used boldly, in effective masses, building up the tones. The boa was painted with sinuous black brushstrokes.

Conservation History

The paper is much smaller than the board upon which it is laid, which measures 281 x 188 mm (11 1/16 x 7 3/8"). The edges have been abraded. It appears that the picture was touched up at the edge and on the board, probably by another hand, after mounting.

History

Provenance

• 1896: bought from Whistler by John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh;
• 1901: bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit, in November;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

For further details see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1415).

Exhibitions

• 1896: 6th Exhibition, Society of Portrait Painters, London, 1896 (cat. no. 19) as 'Rose and Silver – Portrait'.
• 1901: The Water-Colour Art of the Nineteenth Century by one hundred painters held at the Fine Art Society's, London, 1901 (cat. no. 180) as 'Rose and Silver'.
• 1904:Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 103) as 'Portrait of Mrs.Whibley'.
• 1905:Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 86) as 'Rose and Silver. Portrait of Mrs. Whibley'.

By the terms of Freer's will this work cannot be lent to any other venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1415) as 'Rose and Silver: Portrait of Mrs. Whibley'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 6th Exhibition, Society of Portrait Painters, London, 1896 (cat. no. 19) as 'Rose and Silver – Portrait'.
• The Water-Colour Art of the Nineteenth Century by one hundred painters held at the Fine Art Society's, London, 1901 (cat. no. 180) as 'Rose and Silver'.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 103) as 'Portrait of Mrs.Whibley'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 86) as 'Rose and Silver. Portrait of Mrs. Whibley'.

Books on Whistler

• MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, p. 200, fig. 197.
• Merrill, Linda, With Kindest Regards. The Correspondence of Charles Lang Freer and James McNeill Whistler, 1890-1903, Washington, DC, and London, 1995, p. 63, pl. 15.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 204, pl. 136.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1901.108a-c, as 'Rose and Silver–Portrait of Mrs. Whibley'.