The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

J. Whistler, Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine, The Hunterian

Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine dates from the early 1890s, possibly between 1892 and 1893. ¹

The canvas bears the stamp of Emile Blanchet (1852-1931), artists' supplier, whom Whistler appears to have patronised at some time between 1892 and 1895.

B. Whistler, Study of "Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine", The Hunterian, GLAHA 46318

The fact that a pen drawing of the composition – Study of "Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine" – was made by Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896) and confirms that the sitter was posing, probably in Paris, in which case it could date from between 1892 and 1893.

Images

Subject

Titles

It is not certain that the known titles are actually Whistler's. Punctuation and capitalisation varies, as seen in these examples:

• 'Rose et Argent. La Jolie Mutine' (1903, anon.). ²
• 'Graziosa e ritrosa: rosa ed argento' (1903, V Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia). ³
• 'Rose et Argent: La Jolie Mutine' (19 ⁴
• 'Rose et argent – La Jolie Mutine' (1980, YMSM). ⁵

The Italian 'Graziosa e ritrosa' can be translated as 'Pretty and coy'; the French, 'La Jolie Mutine' may be translated as 'The pretty scamp' or 'pretty rebel'. Both agree on 'Pink and Silver.'

Avoiding the problems of translation, the French version, 'Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine', has been generally accepted.

Description

Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine, The Hunterian

A full length portrait of a woman, standing on a brown floor, against a pale ochre wall. She stands with her body turned slightly to left, her head tilted to left (her right). Dark-eyed, she is looking to right, rather than at the viewer. She wears a black dress with a narrow waist and three-quarter length sleeves ending in black and white striped lace cuffs with deep zigzag edges; the broad tippet over her shoulders is a pleated material in a black and white check pattern, and also has a spiky zigzag edge. A black chiffon scarf round her neck is tied in a bow to left. Two small pink bows or flowers adorn the tippet. Her curly hair is black, with a short fringe, and she wears a tall, narrow bonnet adorned with red flowers and black lace, gauze or feathers. A curl of hair or feather curves across her cheek at left. Her hands are at her sides, holding stretched out between them a piece of material, probably a long glove.

Sitter

Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine, The Hunterian

J. Whistler, The Rose Scarf, The Hunterian

The sitter has not been identified with certainty. She closely resembles the model for The Rose Scarf y390.

B. Whistler, Study of 'Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine', The Hunterian, GLAHA 46318

A drawing of the sitter by Beatrice Philip (Mrs E. W. Godwin, Mrs J. McN. Whistler) (1857-1896), Study for 'Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine' m1326 (originally attributed to Whistler), drawn possibly between 1892 and 1894, was inscribed, many years later, by Harold Wright, 'Mrs Whibley'. This may have been based on information from Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) , who should have known if it was a picture of her sister Ethel Whibley (1861-1920) . If so, it shows her as much younger and more vivacious than was usual in Whistler's portraits of her.

It is also possible that one of the other Birnie Philip sisters could have posed although there is no record of this.

Technique

Composition

J. Whistler, Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine, The Hunterian

B. Whistler, Study of 'Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine', The Hunterian

Beatrice Whistler also drew the model while she was posing for Whistler, from further to the right, and at an early stage in sittings. The angle of the model's head is slightly different. The main differences in pose are that her hands seem closer together, her right hand is silhouetted against the background, and the hat is slightly less tall.

Changes are visible in the actual portrait, and partly reveal this earlier pose: in the oil, both her hands were originally about 25.4 mm (1 inch) further left, so that her right hand was seen against the background, not the black dress. Her left hand was also originally higher, so that the gloves she holds were also painted higher up.

Technique

Lining has emphasised the weave of the medium-weight canvas. It appears to have been unevenly primed. There is a pink priming with a slightly greyer pink imprimatura. ⁶

On the back of the stretcher is the stamp of Emile Blanchet (1852-1931) of 20 rue St-Benoit, Paris. Emile Blanchet (1852-1931) moved from 32 rue Bonaparte to 20 rue St-Benoit, Paris, by 1888. The small panel for Study for Three Decorative Panels Representing 'The Landing of Columbus', 'Queen Isabel la Católica of Spain' and 'Queen Elizabeth of England' y396, dating from 1892/1895, bears a similar stamp. Several earlier Whistler paintings bear Blanchet's stamp, and may have been relined or treated in some way by the firm.

In Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine, the paint is over-thinned and very thinly applied with a soft long-haired brush, leading to poor film formation (there are narrow wriggly drips through the paint at the left edge of the dress, and areas of cracking in the black of the skirt). The face shows a comparatively high degree of finish, with little trace of brush strokes. The hem of the dress is marked clearly, but the floor is painted sketchily and the junction of floor and wall is only roughly defined. There is no obvious rubbing-down. ⁷

Conservation History

The varnish is thin and does not extend to the edges with every brushstroke, suggesting it is the original one. ⁸

The painting may have been treated by Harry Woolford in 1977, and a condition report was prepared by Clare Meredith in 2001. Although there is some local craquelure, and the varnish is discoloured, overall the painting is in good, stable condition. ⁹

Frame

J. Whistler, Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine, The Hunterian

J. Whistler, Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine, frame detail

Portrait Whistler, 212.0 x 109.7 x 7.5 cm. ¹⁰

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903 and bequeathed to his ward and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1935: given by Miss Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

• 1903: V Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia, Venice, 1903 (cat. no. 39) as 'Graziosa e ritrosa: rosa ed argento'.

There is no record of an exhibition in Whistler's lifetime.

By the terms of Miss Birnie Philip's gift to the University of Glasgow, it is not lendable.

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. 389), plate 267, as 'Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine'.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (drawing, cat. no. 1326) as "Study for 'Rose et argent: La Jolie Mutine' ".

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• V Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia, Venice, 1903 (cat. no. 39) as 'Graziosa e ritrosa: rosa ed argento'.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• MacDonald, Margaret F., Susan Galassi, Aileen Ribeiro, and Patricia de Montfort, Whistler, Women and Fashion, New Haven and London, 2003, p. 193.

Books, General

• McConkey, Kenneth, Edwardian Portraits. Images of an Age of Opulence, Woodbridge, 1987, p. 138 note 3.
• McConkey, Kenneth, Sir John Lavery, Edinburgh, 1993, pp. 67, 213 note 8.

Catalogues 1906-Present

COLLECTION:

• Allan, Christopher J., A Guidebook to the Hunterian Art Gallery of the University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, 1991, repr. p. 15.

EXHIBITION:

• James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1936 (cat. no. 19).

Journals 1906-Present

• Young, Andrew McLaren, 'The University of Glasgow: the Art Collections', Scottish Art Review, vol. 3, no. 3, 1951, repr. p. 4.
• Prince, Geraldine, 'The Peacock Painter', Scottish Portrait Magazine, October 1984, repr. p. 18.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk/#/details/ecatalogue/41058.
• ArtUK website at http://artuk.org.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 173).

Other

• Parkerson, Sarah Lawrence, Variations in Gold: The Stylistic Development of the Picture Frames used by James McNeill Whistlers, PhD thesis, University of Glasgow, 2007.