The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 432
Head of a Girl
Date
Head of a Girl dates from between December 1894 and March 1895. 1
It was probably painted in the studio of Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942), 13 Robert Street, between December 1894 and March 1895. According to Sickert 'a little head' was one of three canvases (with Head of Mrs Beaumont y430 and Portrait of Mrs Walter Cave y431) that 'Whistler in a then fit of good humour said I could have', but Sickert later lost track of them and wrote asking Florence Pash Humphrey Holland (1860-1951) if she had them. 2 He described it as 'a head of a girl who is married to a big colonial-warren shop in Pall Mall', and asked Florence Pash to sell it, or one of the other two canvases. 3
Images
Head of a Girl, Whereabouts unknown
Subject
Titles
Only one title has been suggested:
- 'Head of a Girl' (1980, YMSM). 4
Description
The head of a woman.
Sitter
Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942) described the sitter as 'a girl who is married to a big colonial-warren [wares?] shop in Pall Mall.' 5 A number of colonial supply shops in Pall Mall are listed in the Post Office Directory for 1900 but the names of the shop-keepers have not helped to identify the sitter.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
- 1894/1895: possibly given by the artist to Walter Richard Sickert (1860-1942).
According to Sickert 'a little head' was one of three canvases (with Head of Mrs Beaumont y430, Portrait of Mrs Walter Cave y431) that 'Whistler in a then fit of good humour said I could have', but Sickert later lost track of them and wrote asking Florence Pash Humphrey Holland (1860-1951) if she had them. 6 He asked Pash to sell it, or one of the other two canvases. 7
Exhibitions
It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.
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. 432) as 'Head of a Girl'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- None.
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Unpublished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. 432).
2: [1900], Islington Public Library, London.
3: [ca 1900], Islington Public Library, London.
4: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 432).
5: Sickert to Florence Pash, ca 1900, Islington Public Library, London.
6: [1900], Islington Public Library, London.
7: n.d., Islington Public Library, London.