The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Butterfly was drawn in 1899 and used as an illustration for the book by James McNeill Whistler, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict, Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899, p. 12.

Butterfly, Art Institute of Chicago

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1566).

Images

Subject

Description

Butterfly, Art Institute of Chicago

A skinny butterfly with upraised limbs and shaded trefoil-shaped wings, the barbed tail curving down behind its right leg.

Comments

In 1894 William Eden (1849-1915) commissioned a portrait of his wife Sybil Frances Grey, Lady Eden (1867-1945). Whistler, dissatisfied with the amount (100gns) and manner of payment, retained and altered the portrait (Brown and Gold: Portrait of Lady Eden y408). After an appeal, in December 1897, the Court de Cassation let him retain the portrait but return the money. Whistler was well satisfied to see the Code Napoléon altered, to specify an artist's right to decide the fate of his works.

Whistler planned to publish an account of the affair, a compilation of letters, newspaper reports and legal documents, with William Heinemann (1863-1920), who had published the Gentle Art of Making Enemies in 1890. There was some problem with publishing in London, and, with Heinemann’s tacit agreement, Louis-Henry May in Paris took over the publication. A first proof was run off, using mainly butterflies originally drawn for the Gentle Art of Making Enemies. These butterflies were mostly replaced by new ones, in a second proof. There are at least two versions of some of the designs. They were slightly reduced in size in the final publication.

For the book, Whistler designed 15 butterflies, a club (A club on a cushion m1564), and a frog (Frog m1553). He also drew some butterflies which were not used (v.: Butterfly; r.: see No. 1268 m1572, Butterfly with chequered wings m1578, r.: Butterfly; v.: Butterfly with chequered wings m1579). The Baronet and the Butterfly was comparatively sparing of butterflies. Many marginal annotations, which in the Gentle Art of Making Enemies would have warranted a butterfly, did not get one. Some of the butterflies were very badly reproduced (r. and v.: Butterfly m1561, r.: Butterfly 'Encountered'; v.: Butterfly m1562). There were obviously publication problems, and it was not an entirely satisfactory venture. However, Whistler did not admit of criticism and seems, publicly, to have been entirely satisfied with the outcome.

Technique

Composition

Butterfly, Art Institute of Chicago

This was drawn for publication in the book by James McNeill Whistler, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict, Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899. It marked a marginal quotation on p. 12 from William Eden (1849-1915), 'a man is a d-d fool who pays a larger priced for anything he can get for a smaller one.'

Technique

The butterfly was drawn with a fine-nibbed pen, and was reproduced much reduced in scale.

Conservation History

It is on card like Butterfly m1568, with a rough edge at left, and an unevenly cut edge at the bottom. The card has darkened except right by the mount. There are three pinholes, two on the left and one upper right, slightly in from the corners.

History

Provenance

• 1920: sold on 16 April by Albert Louis Roullier (1858-1920), art dealer, Chicago, to Walter Stanton Brewster (1872-1954);
• 1933: given to the Art Institute of Chicago.

The earlier provenance is unknown. See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1561).

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. 1566) as 'Butterfly'.

Authored by Whistler

• Whistler, James McNeill, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict, Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899, p. 12, repr.

Websites

• Clarke, Jay A., and Sarah Kelly Oehler, eds., Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020, website (cat. no. 40).
• 'Cats. 40–47 Butterflies and Club: Tombstone,' in Whistler Paintings and Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago (The Art Institute of Chicago, 2020) URL (cat. no. 40).