The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 415
Street in Brittany
Date
Street in Brittany may date from Whistler's visits to Brittany in September 1888 or August 1893, or some time between these dates. 1
Known Brittany subjects by Whistler include Violet and Blue: The Little Bathers, Perros-Guirec y382 and The Bathing Posts, Brittany y409 but no street scenes have been identified for this period.
The later date – 1893 – indicates that it may have been the unidentified work called 'Brittany' lent by the Glasgow art dealer Alexander Reid (1854-1928) to the 64th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1894 (cat. no. 323).
Reid is recorded as selling a painting called Street in Brittany in 1907 (if the dates provided by his son are correct) but this does seem rather a long time for him to have held on to the work. It is not certain that the work exhibited in 1894 and that sold in 1907 are one and the same.
Images
Street in Brittany, Whereabouts unknown
Subject
Titles
Suggested titles include:
- Possibly 'Brittany' (1894, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts). 2
- 'Street in Brittany' (1963, A. McN. Reid). 3
- 'Street in Brittany' (1980, YMSM). 4
Description
A street scene.
Site
Brittany, France. In July 1893 Whistler visited Brittany and in September, Paimpol on the Côtes du nord.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
- 1907: sold by Alexander Reid (1854-1928), Glasgow art dealer to James Gardner Shepherd (1867-1935), Scranton, Pa.
The early provenance is not known for certain.
'Street in Brittany' was sold by Reid with Chelsea Shop y374 to J. G. Shepherd in December 1907 for £750. 5 It is not known what happened to this painting after 1907, nor after Shepherd's death in 1935.
Exhibitions
- 1894: Possibly 64th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1894 (cat. no. 323) as 'Brittany'.
- 1895: Possibly A Collection of Paintings representing The Glasgow School, Artists of Denmark and Some Others, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1895 (cat. no. 165) as 'Brittany'.
There is no certain record of this picture having been exhibited but it is possible that it could be the same as another work owned in the 1890s by the Glasgow art dealer Alexander Reid. He lent 'Brittany' to exhibitions in Philadelphia and Chicago; however, it was listed in the catalogue as a pastel and described by The Critic, 30 November 1895, as 'delicate and exquisite in colour', which is not sufficient to identify it. Accordingly it has been catalogued as a pastel, Brittany m1369. It was probably a figure subject like the other works exhibited. There are no known land- or seascape pastels of Brittany by Whistler, though there are several watercolours, such as A Brittany shop with shuttered windows m1365.
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. 415) as 'Street in Brittany'.
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (drawing, cat. no. 1365).
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Possibly 64th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1894 (cat. no. 323) as 'Brittany'.
Journals 1855-1905
- None.
Monographs
- None.
Books on Whistler
- None.
Books, General
- None.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- None.
Journals 1906-Present
- None.
Websites
- None.
Unpublished
- None.
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 415).
2: 64th Annual Exhibition, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1894 (cat. no. 323). This is by no means certain!
3: Information from A. McN. Reid, 1963, GU WPP files.
4: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 415).
5: Information from Reid's son, A. McN. Reid, 1963, GUL WPP.