The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1455
Heads of a man and woman, and a cloaked figure
Date
Heads of a man and woman, and a cloaked figure dates from 1896/1901.
Heads of a man and woman, and a cloaked figure, Library of Congress
It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1455).
Images
Heads of a man and woman, and a cloaked figure, Library of Congress
Subject
Sitter
Heads of a man and woman, and a cloaked figure, Library of Congress
Not identified. It is a little reminiscent of a lithograph, The Russian Schube c142, a portrait of Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) in 1896, but the cloak is not so all-enveloping.
Technique
Technique
Heads of a man and woman, and a cloaked figure, Library of Congress
Several of the drawings are incomprehensible. The figure studies are tiny: the main one, apparently an idea for or reminiscence of a portrait of a cloaked figure, emerges from a maze of cross hatching behind the figure.
Conservation History
The paper is unusual, fibrous, and some paper loss has been suffered at top left. The sheet has been folded once, vertically.
History
Provenance
- 1896/1901: probably given by Whistler to Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) and Joseph Pennell (1860-1926);
- 1927/1936: given by Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936) to the Library of Congress.
Exhibitions
It was not 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. 1455) as 'Heads of a man and woman, and a cloaked figure'.
Websites
- Library of Congress website at http://www.loc.gov.