The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

M.1581
Sketch of the Peacock Room

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 17 December 1898
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number: 1927.5883
Medium: graphite pencil
Support: cream wove paper, printed ‘THE RESTAURANT FRASCATI / (WITH SPECIAL MUSICAL PROGRAMMES). / WILL BE OPEN ON CHRISTMAS DAY / FROM 6 p.m., AND ALL DAY ON THE /BANK HOLIDAY.’, also translated into French and German
Size: 187 x 178 mm (7 3/8 x 7")
Signature: none
Inscription: r.: ‘Whistler’s sketch of the Peacock Room – to give me an idea of it – done at Fracato’s [sic], 17th–Dec–1898 – A. Ludovici’ by A. Ludovici; v.: inscribed in unknown hands, 'No.123 of London Catalogue - page 122 - Lent by the artist Ludovici - (1898)/ £110.' and 'a50081// 27.5883// R.10445// FH0'; collector's stamp 'CD' (Charles Deering)

Date

Sketch of the Peacock Room dates, according to Albert Ludovici, Jr (1852-1932), from 17 December 1898.

Sketch of the Peacock Room, Art Institute of Chicago

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1581).

Images

Sketch of the Peacock Room, Art Institute of Chicago

North-eastern corner of the Peacock Room, Freer Gallery of Art

Subject

Site

Sketch of the Peacock Room, Art Institute of Chicago

This is a memory sketch of details from Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room y178, which was still in 49 Princes Gate, London.

According to the inscription and heading, it was drawn at Frascati's restaurant, London.

Technique

Composition

Sketch of the Peacock Room, Art Institute of Chicago

North-eastern corner of the Peacock Room, Freer Gallery of Art

Rough memory sketches of Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room y178, done more than twenty years after Whistler had completed it.

Technique

The drawing is vigorous, and yet the artist carefully fill in areas of shading to give the peacocks added emphasis. He was apparently not happy about the position of the neck and head of the peacock on the right, and drew it twice.

Sketch of the Peacock Room, Art Institute of Chicago

See further details in 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.

Conservation History

The paper is a dark cream, browned, and has darkened within the mount. It was once folded horizontally through the centre.

History

Provenance

1898: given by Whistler to Albert Ludovici, Jr (1852-1932).
Date unknown: acquired by Charles Deering (1852-1927), Chicago;
1927: bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 123).

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1581) as 'Sketch of the Peacock Room'.
Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (Peacock Room, cat. no. 178).

Catalogues 1855-1905

Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 123).

Monographs

Merrill, Linda, The Peacock Room. A Cultural Biography, New Haven and London, 1998, pp. 297-98.

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. 48).

Notes: