Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate dates from 1884. 1
C. Reutlinger, Pablo de Sarasate, silver gelatin print, 1884, GUL Whistler PH1/41
The photograph of Pablo de Sarasate y Navascues (1844-1908), reproduced above, was signed and dated 'Au cher Maître Whistler, son ami et modèle Pablo de Sarasate, London, 84.' In a letter to Sarasate in that year, Whistler wrote:
'Dear Maestro -
We have been to hear you and see you - I thought you were simply splendid! -
If my portrait gives an impression of your appearance as a great Artist I shall be proud of my work.' 2
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, Carnegie Institute
The portrait was described in the St James's Gazette on 7 July 1884 as 'just completed'. It was seen on 13 July 1884 by Joseph Pennell (1860-1926) 'in the studio, looming up at the end of a dark passage which led to it, looking just as Whistler wanted it to look, as if the violinist was standing on the darkened stage.' 3 According to the artist Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942), he saw Whistler at work on the portrait, and when he took Albert Ludovici, Jr (1852-1932) to Whistler's studio, the portrait of Sarasate was on the easel. 4 Whistler also showed the portrait to another artist,Sidney Starr (1857-1925):
'In the Tite Street studio Whistler closed the large door and used a narrow one, three steps up to it. Leaving this door open, he would go down the steps and stand in the passage to look at his work. Through the door, the light coming from the large window on the left, one saw the tall canvas. The portrait finished, one forgot the canvas and became conscious only of M. Duret [Arrangement en couleur chair et noir: Portrait de Théodore Duret y252], Sarasate, or Rose Corder [Arrangement in Brown and Black: Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder y203] in the late afternoon light. I remember one afternoon he ... led me by the arm to the foot of the steps, saying, "There he is, eh? Isn't that it, eh? All balanced by the bow, you know. See how he stands!" It was Sarasate. And when the portrait was exhibited Whistler said, "They talk about my painting Sarasate standing in a coal cellar, and stupidities like that. I only know that he looked just as he does in my picture when I saw him play in St. James's Hall." ' 5
It was first exhibited at The sixty-second Annual Exhibition, Society of British Artists, London, 1885 (cat. no. 350). Whistler had it photographed and sent prints to friends including Auguste Rodin (1840-1817). 6 An engraving was made for the Magazine of Art in 1885. 7
In November 1895 Whistler expressed the desire to 'touch up' the portrait, but it is not known whether Whistler carried out his intention. 8
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, Carnegie
Institute
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, albumen print, 1890s?, GUL Whistler PH4/38
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, platinum print, 1890s?, GUL Whistler PH4/39
Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston 1904, photograph, GUL Whistler PH6/20
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, photograph, n.d.
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, photograph, 1960?
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, photograph, 1994
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, framed
T. Eakins, Music, Albright Academy of Fine Arts, Buffalo
Sketch of 'Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate', Fogg Art Museum
C. Reutlinger, Pablo de Sarasate, silver gelatin print, 1884, GUL Whistler PH1/41
Several possible titles have been suggested:
Whistler complained that the title in Les XX's catalogue was incorrect and Octave Maus (1856-1919) promised to correct it in the next edition. 21
The portrait being numbered 'No 9' in the series of 'Arrangements in Black', as Petri suggests, 'signalled the continuity of the artist's work'. 22 However, it was never actually exhibited or published with this title.
'Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate' is the preferred title.
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, Carnegie
Institute
A full length portrait of a violinist, in vertical format. He wears evening dress and stands, holding the violin and bow, in front of a dark curtain, apparently lit by a spotlight, on stage.
C. Reutlinger, Pablo de Sarasate, silver gelatin print, 1884, GUL Whistler PH1/41
The violinist, Pablo de Sarasate y Navascues (1844-1908). The photograph above is inscribed 'Au cher Maître Whistler, son ami et modèle Pablo de Sarasate, London, 84.'
Christian Krogh recorded Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) as saying in 1897: 'The portrait is better than Sarasate. Sarasate was immensely flattered by the furore his portrait produced. He stayed the whole time in the room where it hung. But he looked shockingly ordinary by the side of it.' 23
Some years after posing for the portrait, Sarasate wrote to Whistler, 'vous m'avez immortalisé, et comme cela, on saura dans les siècles futurs, qu'il a éxisté un frotteur de boyaux qui ne ménageait pas sa colophane!' (Translation: 'you have immortalised me, and so, it will be known hundreds of years from now, in future centuries that there once existed a fiddler who did not take care of his resin!'). 24
Théodore Duret (1838-1927) told the Pennells 'that Sarasate cared neither for painting nor for his portrait ... It was Goldschmidt, his manager, the owner of a Nocturne who cared.' 25 Otto Goldschmidt (1829-1907) was an enthusiastic collector of Whistler's works (see Nocturne y153, Grey and Silver: Mist - Life Boat y287, Grey and Green: A River y295).
The fame of both Sarasate and Whistler's portrait was such that when, on 15 October 1889, the Glasgow Society of Musicians held a supper in honour of Sarasate, the menu for the five course meal was decorated with an anonymous sketch of Sarasate labelled 'AFTER WHISTLER'! 26
The Carnegie Institute website comments:
'The distinctiveness of Whistler's portrait of Sarasate relies on two conceits: the placement of the figure and the attention-getting placement of the sole prop, the violin. Held full face against the picture plane, the violin creates a spidery, two-dimensional extension of Sarasate's own thin form. The figure, high on the picture plane against black, nearly shadowless surroundings, generates considerable spatial ambiguity. Sarasate's body appears to be floating before the viewer. The reeded, gilt frame, intermittently painted in a fish-scale pattern and signed with a butterfly, is Whistler's design.' 27
No preliminary sketches are known, but there are several drawings after the portrait.
Sketch of 'Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate', Fogg Art Museum
One such pen drawing, Sketch of 'Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate' m0998, was drawn by Whistler for reproduction in the Pall Mall Gazette in 1885. 28 A slightly more elaborate drawing, also called Sketch of 'Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate' m0999, was reproduced by the Pennells. 29
A third drawing, Portrait of Pablo de Sarasate m1000, was said to have been owned by Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), but has not been located.
Whistler refused point blank to etch the oil for reproduction, telling David Croal Thomson (1855-1930), 'Sarasate - Of course I couldn't possibly do an etching - I would hate it! never could copy my own pictures!' 30
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, Carnegie
Institute
It is painted on a fairly coarse canvas, with what was, for Whistler, a fairly high degree of finish.
In November 1895 Whistler expressed the desire to touch up the portrait, but there is no record of him doing so. 31
Whistler asked Octave Maus (1856-1919) to have it varnished for exhibition at Les XX in 1886. 32
In 1893 it was sent to Stephen Richards (1844-1900) before going to the Society of Portrait Painters for exhibition. Whistler instructed Richards:
'Now - the Sarasate portrait, you cannot be too careful with -
It is painted on very rough canvas and you must beware of rubbing! -
It only wants gentle cleaning - and very splendid varnishing - for the picture has quite sunk in - and will depend entirely upon its perfect condition for its real strength and value -
I leave all this in your hands and have great faith in your care & discretion as well as your skill.' 33
By the following year Whistler felt it was ready for further treatment (it had been to one exhibition after another) and told D. C. Thomson, 'The Sarasate ought to be in fine condition - though I daresay it would be all the better for a coat of varnish, which it is in perfect state to receive.' 34 It was also varnished before being offered for sale in July 1895. 35
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, albumen print, 1890s?, GUL Whistler PH4/38
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, platinum print, 1890s?, GUL Whistler PH4/39
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, photograph, n.d.
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, photograph, 1960?
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, photograph, 1994
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, Carnegie Institute
Restoration work was done on the painting in 1926 at Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and in New York in 1957 and 1960. Photographs suggest it may have darkened slightly but it is in a stable condition.
Flat Whistler, 1884, incomplete painted decoration and butterfly on frieze. 36
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, framed
Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston 1904, photograph, GUL Whistler PH6/20
The original Flat Whistler frame, dating from 1884, is partially painted in a fish-scale pattern, and signed with a butterfly.
In May 1893 the art dealer David Croal Thomson (1855-1930) asked Whistler 'what you would like done about the Sarasate for we think it would sell.' 37 Whistler refused to make an etching of it for reproduction in the Art Journal; he suggested having a photograph taken, but by 11 May it was 'in place' in the Society of Portrait Painters exhibition, and not available for photography. 38 Whistler also suggested that Thomson should buy the copyright. 39
On 1 July 1895 Francis Gerard Prange (b. ca 1843), art manager of the Grafton Gallery, asked Whistler if he would sell the portrait, and on 23 July announced, 'the eminent Musician has arrived in perfect safety' and negotiations had started. 40 Whistler reported to E. G. Kennedy,
'Mr. Prange, (The Director of the Grafton Gallery) has the "Sarasate", for sale - If you think you see the placing of it in America, you had better communicate with him - I suppose he will ask somewhere about £2000 or less - I have given him my lowest inside price - and of course he will want to make his large profit -
He stirred me up about the picture after you had gone - telling me he thought he could place it - So I had it looked up, and varnished, and it is in splendid condition.' 41
At that price, said Kennedy, he was not interested. 42
On 22 October 1895 Prange sent the portrait back temporarily to D. C. Thomson at the Goupil Gallery. 43 On 21 July 1896, Goupil's proposed to return it to Prange, but Whistler told Thomson to send it to E. G. Kennedy and it was sent in September. 44 By 24 September it had arrived in New York, and Kennedy checked that Whistler's price was £900 net. 45 Kennedy then tried to include the portrait of Sarasate in his prolonged negotiations for the purchase of several other paintings, including The Master Smith of Lyme Regis y450, Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian y378, and Rose et or: La Tulipe y418. 46
It was exhibited in the 1st Annual Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1896 (cat. no. 303) and sold on Whistler's behalf by E. G. Kennedy to the Institute on 30 November 1896 for £900, through the efforts of John Caldwell (fl. 1887-1907). 47 On 31 December 1896 Kennedy's firm, Wunderlich & Co., were able to send Whistler a cheque for £1170.0.0 for the portrait of Sarasate and Crimson note: Carmen y441 (the latter bought by A. A. Pope). 48
The Carnegie Institute website comments: 'Its purchase made it Carnegie Institute's second acquisition for the permanent collection and the fourth acquisition of a Whistler by an American museum.' 49
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, photograph, n.d.
1884: Whistler thought of sending the portrait to the Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures & Photography: A Loan Collection of Pictures by Mr Whistler ..., Dublin Sketching Club, Dublin, 1884, but did not do so. 50
1885: Although it was in general enthusiastically received by the critics in 1885, Phillips criticised the lack of vivacity in the head, 'quoique bien dessinée et fort ressemblante.' 51 The St James's Gazette art critic responded much more positively, describing the subtle nuance of colour perceptively:
'The evening dress is carried out in two tones of black, the Senor’s hair is a third black, and the background a fourth; while his complexion, the violin, the floor, and Mr. Whistler’s butterfly—the last a fine example of the species, and the only complication allowed—are in various tones of yellow and brownish grey. If the aim of a work of' art be, as M. Taine says it is, to bring out some essential and salient characteristic of things more clearly and more completely than the actual look of those things can do by itself, then Mr. Whistler has produced a masterpiece. He presents his sitter in his capacity as virtuoso.'
52
Malcolm Charles Salaman (1855-1940) claimed that the exhibition of the portrait in 1885 was a huge success: 'the noble picture of Sarasate ... made the exhibition of the British Artists historical.' 53
Whistler's friend, the architect Edward William Godwin (1833-1886), concurred, placing the portrait of Sarasate on a level with Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother y101 and Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle y137. 54
1886: When it was exhibited in Brussels in 1886 as 'Pablo de Sarasate', Whistler claimed that was the wrong title; Octave Maus (1856-1919) apologised, but told Whistler that the exhibition had been a 'great and legitimate success', and Theodore van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) had arranged for the painting to be sent on to Paris for the Salon. 55
In Paris in 1886 Alfred de Lostalot (1837-1909) called it 'un sorte d'apparition du célèbre violoniste évoqué par quelque médium dans une séance de spiritisme. La silhouette de M. Sarasate est très ressemblante et d'un dessin élégant, je le reconnais, mais il faut regarder attentivement.' 56
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate, platinum print, 1890s?, GUL Whistler PH4/39
1892: It was listed by Whistler as 'Sarasate' among pictures suitable for exhibition in his retrospective at Goupil's in 1892, but not shown. 57 The photograph reproduced above may date from that time.
1893: Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) wanted it for the World's Columbian Exposition, Department of Fine Arts, Chicago, 1893, but it was not available (it went to the Society of Portrait Painters instead). 58 At the SPP despite some criticism of the lighting in the Grafton Galleries, Francis Gerard Prange (b. ca 1843) told Whistler, 'Your picture does look well.' 59 E. G. Kennedy confirmed both the inadequate lighting and the success of Whistler’s portrait:
'the Sarasate ... is very beautiful & characteristic. I have not seen Sarasate, but feel convinced that it must be a good portrait as well as a fair work of art ... the Grafton Gallery had very few visitors ... The galleries are out of the way, which may account for the meagre attendance. As to the lighting, it is a great mistake, as the light is very confusing & I cannot understand how such a blunder could have been made.' 60
1894: There was some dispute about which section of the Antwerp exhibition Whistler should inhabit, and he said that he would be content with his work being hung in the 'American' or 'Strangers' sections, but 'On no account however will I exhibit in the "English Section".' 61 A sketch, Paintings for exhibition in Antwerp m1427, shows the proposed arrangement of the panel. However, the late arrival of the portrait of Sarasate meant the pictures were hung, as Charles Sprague Pearce (1851-1914) told Whistler, from left to right, 'Valparaiso / Miss Corder / Fireworks / Battersea reach / Sarasate / Little Girl in White.' 62 Whistler suggested to Thomson that an 'admirer' of Whistler's work should go to Antwerp,
'he is not likely to have such another occasion in a hurry of seeing so swell a group of his distinguished countryman's work! - There indeed he will find the Sarasate in his full "dignity" - ... altogether they tell me I have a splendid show in Antwerp - and no true admirer could possibly miss the occasion!' 63
The admirer (presumably a potential collector) did so, and Whistler was flattered by his response, considering 'his understanding of the pictures most intelligent.' 64 Whistler also suggested that Alfred Atmore Pope (1842-1913) should visit the exhibition. 65
1896: The successful exhibition of 'Sarasate' in Pittsburgh in 1896 led immediately to the purchase of the portrait by the Carnegie Institute on 30 November 1896.
Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston 1904, GUL Whistler PH6/20
T. Eakins, Music, Albright-Knox Art Gallery
1904: In the year of the Whistler memorial exhibition in Boston, Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) included Whistler's portrait of Sarasate in the background of his superb portrait Music (Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo). 66
1905: It was one of the paintings praised by Antonin Proust (1832-1905) in a letter to his mother concerning the Whistler memorial exhibition in Paris in 1905. 67 Proust had met Whistler just once, probably through Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac (1855-1921). In 1906, Proust started to write À la recherche du temps perdu in which the character 'Elstir' was in part inspired by Whistler.
1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 315).
2: [March/July 1884], GUW #08133.
3: Pennell 1921C [more], pp. 4-5.
4: Sickert, Walter, ‘Where Paul and I differ’, Art News, No. 14, 10 February 1910, p. 113.
5: Starr 1908 [more]. Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, pp. 3-4.
6: [June 1885], GUW #09413.
7: Anon., 'Current Art IV,' The Magazine of Art, vol. 8, 1885, pp. 464-70, repr. p. 469.
8: Whistler to B. Whistler, 19 November 1895, GUW #06643.
9: The sixty-second Annual Exhibition, Society of British Artists, London, 1885 (cat. no. 350).
10: Les XX, la troisieme exposition annuelle, Société des XX, Brussels, 1886 (no catalogue number).
11: Whistler wanted this title used in the Salon catalogue, letter to T. Child, [24 March 1886], GUW #09268.
12: Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure et lithographie des artistes vivants, 104th exhibition, Salon de la Société des artistes français, Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris, 1886 (cat. no. 2450).
13: Reproduction inscribed to John White Alexander (1856-1915), Brooklyn Museum 31.213, website at https://www.brooklynmuseum.org.
14: 3rd exhibition, Society of Portrait Painters, London, 1893 (cat. no. 52).
15: Große Kunst-Ausstellung des Kunst-Vereins in der Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, 1894 (cat. no. 646).
16: 1st Annual Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1896 (cat. no. 303).
17: Loan Exhibition of Selected Works of Old and Modern Masters being the Annual Exhibition of the Antiquarians of the Art Institute, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1898 (cat. no. 60).
18: Catalogue of the Memorial Exhibition, London 1905 [more] (cat. no. 19) in ordinary and deluxe edition respectively.
19: Exhibition catalogue Paris 1905 (Memorial expo)[more] (cat. no. 20).
20: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 315).
21: Maus to Whistler, 11 February 1886, GUW #05486.
22: Petri 2011 [more], p. 175.
23: Krogh, Christian, 'Fritz Thaulow and Oscar Wilde at Dieppe', The New Age, 10 December 1908, p. 133.
24: 18 May 1893, GUW #05377.
25: Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, p. 3.
26: GUW #01681.
27: Carnegie Institute website at http://www.cmoa.org.
28: Pennington 1885 [more], repr. p. 76.
29: Pennell 1908 [more], vol. 2, f.p. 4 as 'Study for the "Sarasate" '.
30: [5 May 1893], GUW #08229.
31: Whistler to B. Whistler, 19 November 1895, GUW #06643.
32: [6 February 1886], GUW #09238.
33: 4 May 1893, GUW #10718.
34: [11 August 1894], GUW #08310.
35: Whistler to E. G. Kennedy, 5 August [1895], GUW #09733.
36: Dr S. L. Parkerson Day, Report on frames, 2017; see also Parkerson 2007 [more].
37: 6 May 1893, GUW #05776.
38: Whistler to Thomson, [5 May 1893], GUW #08229; [9 May 1893], GUW #08234; and reply, 11 May 1893, GUW #05778.
39: 15 May 1893, GUW #08232.
40: GUW #05043, #05045.
41: Whistler to E. G. Kennedy, 5 August [1895], GUW #09733.
42: 30 August-15 September 1895, GUW #07259.
43: Thomson to Whistler, GUW #05826.
44: Boussod to Whistler, [21 July 1896], GUW #10080; Whistler to Thomson, 21 July [1896], GUW #08414; Kennedy to Whistler, [29 July or 5 August 1896], GUW #07281; Whistler to Thomson, [8 September 1896], GUW #08417.
45: Kennedy to Whistler, 24 September 1896, GUW #07282.
46: 14 November 1896, GUW #07283.
47: Director of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, to J. Pennell, n.d., LC PC.
48: GUW #07284.
49: Carnegie Institute website at http://www.cmoa.org.
50: Whistler to H. Graves, [June/November 1884], GUW #10929.
51: C. Phillips 1885 [more], at p. 96.
52: 'The "British Artists" ', St James's Gazette, London, 22 April 1885, pp. 6-7. Brief reviews appeared in many papers including Graphic, London, 25 April 1885, p. 13; Illustrated London News, London, 25 April 1885, p. 22; The Era, London, 2 May 1885, p. 13; Glasgow Herald, 4 May 1885, p. 9; the most enthusiastic was the Manchester Courier, Manchester, 6 May 1885, p. 8.
53: M. C. Salaman to Editor, Court and Society Review, published in that journal, 23 June 1886, GUW #11356.
54: Godwin to Editor, Court and Society Review, 22 July 1886, GUW #11362.
55: Maus to Whistler, 11 February 1886, GUW #05486, and [11 March 1886], GUW #05487.
56: Lostalot 1886 [more].
57: Whistler to D. C. Thomson, [4/11 January 1892], GUW #06795; Thomson to Whistler, 9 February 1892, GUW #05683.
58: Kennedy to Whistler, 12 April 1893, GUW #07214; reply, [17 April 1893], GUW #09705.
59: 27 May 1893, GUW #05032.
60: 10 June 1893, GUW #07218.
61: Whistler to A. Maeterlinck, 14 March [1894], GUW #13812.
62: 28 July 1894, GUW #00192.
63: [1/3 August 1894], GUW #09465.
64: Whistler to D. C. Thomson, [11 August 1894], GUW #08310.
65: 4 September 1894, GUW #12474.
66: Merrill 2003 [more] (cat. no. 36).
67: [13 or 14 June 1905], quoted by Painter, George D. (ed.), Marcel Proust – Letters to his mother, London, 1956.