The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1518
Street in Bourges
Date
Street in Bourges probably dates from 1888. Whistler and his wife were in Bourges in the last week of September 1888, during their honeymoon in the Loire valley.
Street in Bourges, Cumner Museum of Art.
It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1518) dated 1897/1899. This entry has been revised.
Images
Street in Bourges, Cumner Museum of Art,
Subject
Site
Street in Bourges, Cumner Museum of Art,
Bourges is a historic town in the Centre region of France, southwest of Tours, noted for its Gothic cathedral of Saint-Etienne and fine Renaissance buildings. Bourges is some 140 km west of Tours.
On his honeymoon, in 1888, Whistler etched several views of Bourges, including Court of the Monastery of St. Augustine, Bourges [403] Hôtel Lallement, Bourges [396], and Notre-Dame, Bourges [402].
Technique
Technique
Street in Bourges, Cumner Museum of Art
Whistler used round edged brushes to paint broad washes of colour. Her he used opaque paint to emphasize the clouds and awning and other details.
History
Provenance
- 1899: 'Drawing - Bourges' sold by Whistler to Wunderlich's, New York art dealers, for £40.0.0; 1
- 1900: sold to Harris Whittemore (1864-1927), Naugatuck, CT;
- 1927: passed to the J. H. Whittemore Co.;
- 1948: sold at auction, Parke-Bernet, New York, 19-20 May 1948 (lot 61), bought by Macbeth, New York dealers.
- 1951: bought from Grand Central Galleries by Mrs Ninah M. H. Cummer (1875-1958);
- 1958: bequeathed by Mrs Cummer to the Cummer Art Gallery.
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. 1518) as 'Street in Bourges'.
Notes:
1: H. Wunderlich and Co. to Whistler, 6 April 1900, GUW #07322.