The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Grey Lady: Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell dates from between 1881 and 1882. ¹

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) wrote to Whistler, in June 1882, 'And the Moon-Lady, the Grey Lady, the beautiful wraith with her beryl eyes, our Lady Archie, how is she?' ² However, it is not entirely clear if he is talking about the woman or her portrait.

In a letter to Théodore Duret (1838-1927), which dates from about 1881/1882, Whistler wrote 'demain j'ai une séance pour le portrait de la grande dame en gris que vous avez vu commencer.' ³ Duret was introduced to Whistler in November 1880 and was certainly in London in February-April 1881, when it is likely the portrait was started.

The Pennells imply that The Grey Lady: Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell y241 was painted around the same time as Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell in Court Dress y240 and Arrangement in Black: La Dame au brodequin jaune - Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell y242 in about 1882, and quote a letter from the sitter in which she stated,

'A picture which he called The Grey Lady was a harmony in silver greys ...The picture was almost completed, when my absence from town prevented a continuance of the sittings ... When I saw him very shortly before his death, I remember asking after The Grey Lady. He laughed, and said he had destroyed her.' ⁴

This was the second portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell (see Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell in Court Dress y240) that Whistler abandoned (see also Arrangement in Black: La Dame au brodequin jaune - Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell y242).

Images

Subject

Titles

Two titles have been suggested:

• 'The Grey Lady' (1908, J. S. Campbell). ⁵
• 'The Grey Lady: Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell' (1980, YMSM). ⁶

'The Grey Lady: Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell' is the preferred title.

Description

It was described by the sitter as follows:

'A picture which he called The Grey Lady was a harmony in silver greys. I remember thinking it was a masterpiece of drawing, giving the impression of movement. I was descending the steps of a stair, the canvas was of a great height, and the general effect very striking.' ⁷

Sitter

Janey Sevilla Campbell (Lady Archibald Campbell) (ca 1846-d.1923) married Archibald, the second son of the eighth Duke in 1869. She was a beautiful and cultured woman, and moved in fashionable circles. Her patronage was important in restoring Whistler's position in London after his bankruptcy. Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell in Court Dress y240 was the first portrait of 'Lady Archie' (see The Grey Lady: Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell y241 and Arrangement in Black: La Dame au brodequin jaune - Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell y242.

She was a pioneer in encouraging the production of pastoral plays, and posed in costume for Note in Green and Brown: Orlando at Coombe y317. Lady Archie's sister-in-law, Gertrude Elizabeth Campbell (Lady Colin Campbell) (1857-1911), posed to Whistler several years later for Harmony in White and Ivory: Portrait of Lady Colin Campbell y354.

Technique

Technique

Unknown. It was 'nearly finished' when sittings were interrupted and, according to Whistler, it was destroyed. ⁸

Conservation History

Unknown, probably destroyed.

Frame

Unknown.

History

Provenance

Unknown.

Exhibitions

It was neither completed nor exhibited.

The Pennells mention a painting 'difficult to identify, entitled The Grey Lady', ⁹ exhibited in the Second Annual Exhibition of American Oil Paintings, Art Institute of Chicago, 1889, but this was actually Lady in Grey m0933, cat. no. 54 in the exhibition.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 241) as 'The Grey Lady: Portrait of Lady Archibald Campbell'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Duret, Théodore, Histoire de J. McN. Whistler et de son oeuvre, Paris, 1904, pp. 95-98, 102.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 1, p. 305; vol. 2, p. 92.
• Taylor, Hilary, James McNeill Whistler, London, 1978, p. 92.

Books, General

• Hart-Davis, Rupert, (ed.), The Letters of Oscar Wilde, London, 1962, p. 121.
• Robins, Anna Gruetzner (ed.), Walter Sickert: the Complete Writings on Art, Oxford, 2000, pp. 194-96.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• None.

Journals 1906-Present

• Sickert, Walter Richard, ‘Where Paul and I differ’, Art News, no. 14, 10 February 1910, p. 113.

Websites

• None.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 163).

Other

• None.