The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Grey Man: Portrait of S. R. Crockett probably dates from 1896, although it could have been started earlier. ¹

On 15 April 1896 Samuel Rutherford Crockett (1860-1914) wrote to the publisher Thomas Fisher Unwin (1848-1935):

'Whistler has been painting my picture for some time, but will not discuss price until the thing has been done; I don't think, however, that he will overcharge me; it promises to turn out splendidly. Of course I shall pay the whole price, and you, if you want it, shall pay for the reproduction.' ²

According to the sitter (quoted by the Pennells), Unwin had arranged for Whistler to make a lithograph of Crockett, but about 1896 Whistler painted a small oil portrait, 'The Grey Man'. ³ In July 1896, Whistler wrote to Elizabeth Robins Pennell (1855-1936), 'I might ... show you Crockett's picture! - As far as it has gone, he is delighted with it - and I am rather pleased with it myself.' ⁴ Sittings were interrupted, according to the Pennells, by the illness and death of Whistler's wife in 1896. Sittings took place, according to Pennell and the painter Ambrose McEvoy (1878-1927), at 8 Fitzroy Street, London. ⁵

Eventually – in 1898 – Crockett reminded Whistler that the picture had not been completed and Whistler replied on 9 January 1898:

'Why not further astonish me now that you venture to remind me of the picture at all, by coming on to Paris and presenting yourself!

That by the way, will really be your only chance of ever getting your portrait. - for I could not possibly go back to black London!

'So if you want the little painting after all you will have to make your pilgrimage - and your peace! to say nothing of proving to me that you have not too completely put yourself out of drawing for me to touch again!' ⁶

However, there is no further record of the portrait.

Images

Subject

Titles

Suggested titles are as follows:

• 'The Grey Man' (1908, Pennell). ⁷
• 'The Grey Man: Portrait of S. R. Crockett' (1980, YMSM). ⁸

Description

A portrait of a man. Crockett had dark hair with a central parting, and a short bushy beard and moustache.

Sitter

S. R. Crockett, photograph

Samuel Rutherford Crockett (1860-1914) was born in Galloway on 24 September 1860, was minister of Penicuik from 1886, and died on 21 April 1916. He published many poems and novels, mostly on Scottish subjects, including The Grey Man – a novel set in Ayrshire in the seventeenth century – which was published by Unwin's in 1896.

Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859-1920) tells a story about Whistler that may refer to the portrait of Crockett:

'He was once painting the portrait of a distinguished novelist, who, though extremely clever, was not blessed with the fatal gift of beauty. When the portrait was finished, the sitter did not seem satisfied with it. "Don't you like it?" enquired Whistler. "No; can't say I do. But," in self justification, "you must admit that it is a bad work of art." "Yes," Whistler replied; "but I think you must admit that you are a bad work of nature." ' ⁹

Technique

Technique

Unknown. It was probably a small portrait in vertical format.

Conservation History

Unknown.

Frame

Unknown.

History

Provenance

• Unknown.

Exhibitions

• Unknown.

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. 453), plate 434, as 'The Grey Man: Portrait of S. R. Crockett'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• Bookman, 1895, photograph of sitter repr. p. 86.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Eddy, Arthur Jerome, Recollections and Impressions of James A. McNeill Whistler, Philadelphia and London, 1903, p. 239.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 2, pp. 170-71.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Whistler Journal, Philadelphia, 1921, pp. 56, 179.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• None.

Journals 1906-Present

• None.

Websites

• None.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 219).

Other

• None.