The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Green Cap may have been started in 1892 when Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896) mentioned a pastel of an 'exquisite little lady nursing a doll.' ¹ However, it was completed and signed later, possibly in or after 1899. It was bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) in 1902 but 'Left with Mr.Whistler to work on' and only sent to Freer after Whistler's death. ²

The Green Cap, Freer Gallery of Art

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1527).

Images

Subject

Sitter

The Green Cap, Freer Gallery of Art

If it dates from 1892 it could have shown Rose Amy Pettigrew (1872-1958), but it does not really look like her. If it was completed in the later 1890s, then Eva Victoria Carrington (1887-1979) is a more likely model.

Technique

Technique

The Green Cap, Freer Gallery of Art

The Empire studio sofa with its white cover was smudged in with the artist's finger, with the details of the frame and of the doll highlit in white. The model's legs were drawn carefully, but the rest of the figure is more sketchy. The colours are mostly soft with some starting touches such as the red and salmon pink in the check pattern. The soft rubbing of the background may have been a late addition.

There are signs of another drawing, with different drapery, underneath.

Conservation History

The mount appears to have darkened and rubbed the edges. The paper is slightly foxed. It has virtually no grain, but short fibres which stand up, producing a felt-like effect, when drawn on.

History

Provenance

• 1902: bought from Whistler by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit, 16 June;
• 1919: bequeathed by to the Freer Gallery of Art.

For further details see MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1527).

Exhibitions

• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 131) as 'The Green Cap'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1527) as 'The Green Cap'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 131) as 'The Green Cap'.

Books on Whistler

• Merrill, Linda, With Kindest Regards. The Correspondence of Charles Lang Freer and James McNeill Whistler, 1890-1903, Washington, DC, and London, 1995, p. 166, fig. 42.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 275, pl. 276.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1902.112a-c.