The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Captive dates from about 1898, but was reworked at some later date by an unknown hand.

The Captive, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1524).

Images

Subject

Sitter

The Captive, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2017

Possibly Rose Amy Pettigrew (1872-1958).

Technique

Technique

The Captive, photograph, 1911

The Captive, Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2017

Old photographs show the pastel as it was up to at least 1911. It was described in 1911 as 'on a grey background, done principally in black and white, but with a touch of red on the back of the divan and the cap.' ¹

It has since been retouched or restored insensitively by an unknown hand. The original drawing has been covered with weak strokes of colour, white and pink, with light red on the sofa and baby's cheek, turquoise on her belt and at her feet, orange on her robe. The orangey-brown on her head and on the sofa is neater and might be the original colour.

Conservation History

It is not possible to remove the additional work without removing the traces of the original Whistler drawing.

History

Provenance

• 1903: bought from Whistler by Richard Albert Canfield (1855-1914), Providence, RI;
• 1914: sold to Knoedler's, New York dealers, 12 March;
• 1941: bought from Knoedler's by Mrs William Deering Howe (née Polly Brooks) (d. 1973), New York, 11 November 1941.
• ca 1957: bought from Kleeman, New York dealers, by James S. Adams;
• 1974: given by James S. Adams to Indiana University Art Museum (Eskenazi Museum of Art), Bloomington.

The Eskenazi Museum of Art Provenance Project website suggests it was possibly at some time with Howard Mansfield (1849-1938). It is not absolutely certain (but quite possible) that the pastel was in the possession of Knoedler's in New York after 1923 (when it was lent to an exhibition in Baltimore) until it was bought by Mrs Howe in 1941.

See also MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1524).

Exhibitions

• 1901: 3rd Exhibition, Pictures, Drawings, Prints and Sculptures, International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, Galleries of the Royal Institute, London, 1901 (cat. no. 39) as 'The Captive'.
• 1901: Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galeries George Petit, Paris, 1901.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 119) as 'The Captive'.

The 1901 title of 'The Captive' is extremely unusual and sentimental, compared to Whistler's usual titles.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1524) as 'The Captive'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 3rd Exhibition, Pictures, Drawings, Prints and Sculptures, International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, Galleries of the Royal Institute, London, 1901 (cat. no. 39) as 'The Captive'.
• Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galeries George Petit, Paris, 1901.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 119) as 'The Captive'.

Websites

• Eskenazi Museum of Art Provenance Project website at https://artmuseum.indiana.edu.