The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Study of a Girl's Head dates from the 1890s, possibly as late as 1896/1897.

Study of a Girl's Head, Newark Museum of Art

It was the smaller of two 'heads' allegedly stolen from Whistler and bought by John James Cowan (1846-1936) in 1900 (see Alice Butt (2) y438). Cowan described it as an upright panel, 'Study of Model head & shoulders - looks like "La petite souris" you had at Knightsbridge. grey dress dark background & lovely bits of gold shining through - being the natural colour of the panel.' ¹ The painting to which he compared it is Grey and Silver: La Petite Souris y502.

Images

Subject

Titles

Several possible titles have been suggested:

• 'Head' (1900, A. Reid). ²
• 'The Bridesmaid' (1901, J. J. Cowan). ³
• 'Study of a girl's head' (1951, National Library of Wales). ⁴
• 'Study, Head of a Girl' (1979, Newark Museum Quarterly). ⁵
• 'The Bridesmaid' (1980, YMSM). ⁶
• 'Study of a Girl's Head' (2016, Newark Museum). ⁷

No explanation appears in the correspondence for Cowan's title, 'The Bridesmaid', which is neither Whistlerian nor descriptive.

'Study of a Girl's Head', the first published title (1951) is now the preferred title, although it conflicts with the 1980 catalogue.

Description

Study of a Girl's Head, Newark Museum of Art

A small half-length portrait of a young woman in vertical format. She is seen in three-quarter view to right; she has a narrow face, pointed chin and short curly hair. She wears a black dress, possibly with a grey collar or trim around the neck, and is posed against a dark background.

Sitter

Not identified.

Technique

Technique

Study of a Girl's Head, Newark Museum of Art

It is painted thinly on rich red mahogany, and since it is sketched in only roughly in dark green and grey and black, except for the higher finish of the area around the eyes, the red wood contrasts disconcertingly with the paint. There are some crude dabs and strokes of thicker paint around her chin and neck, and on the buttons.

Conservation History

Study of a Girl's Head, drawing by J. J. Cowan, 1901, GUL

J. J. Cowan's drawing (reproduced above), and his description of 'The Bridesmaid' in a letter dated 30 June 1901, precisely fits the panel Study of a Girl's Head except for his reference to a signature, where he writes 'it was only afterwards that the signature & a suspicion of sentiment began to shake my faith!' ⁸ Whistler never mentions the signature, so perhaps, if there ever was one, he or later restorers have removed it.

Study of a Girl's Head, photograph, 1950

Study of a Girl's Head, photograph, 1962

Study of a Girl's Head, Newark Museum of Art

According to Whistler, a small head of a girl, painted by him, was stolen from his studio in Paris '...and ... very much repainted.' ⁹ His sister-in-law wrote, before returning the picture to its owner: 'This picture was removed from Mr. Whistler's studio without his knowledge and worked on by some person unknown.' ¹⁰

The unevenness of technique and paint thickness does suggest that the picture was both touched up and rubbed down, not necessarily by Whistler.

Photographs suggest the painting may have darkened very slightly. There are signs of abrasions and a scratch to right and below her neck.

Frame

Study of a Girl's Head, frame detail

Labels on the frame are recorded by the museum as follows: 'THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF WALES / ABERYSTWYTH / TITLE OF PICTURE Study of a Girl's Head / ARTIST Whistler / LENT BY The Misses Davies, / Gregynog. / EXHIBITED 1951 (58)'; "J. M. WHISTLER. / 'STUDY OF A GIRL'S HEAD' / MARGARET S. DAVIES. / GREGYNOG COLLECTION."; 'The University of Michigan / Museum of Art / Ann Arbor, IM 48109'; and '7/26/62 / Vose Galleries / P.O. / T.R. 152'. In addition there are two handwritten stickers, '5' and '34', and written text, '#20725 / 9 1/2 x 5 1/2'.

History

Provenance

• 1900: bought from Alexander Reid (1854-1928), Glasgow art dealer, by John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh;
• 1901: returned by Cowan to Whistler;
• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death;
• 1904: returned by Whistler's executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) to J. J. Cowan.
• Before 1951: owned by Miss Gwendoline Elizabeth Davies (1882-1951) and Margaret Sidney Davies (1884-1963), Gregynog, Wales;
• 1960: sold by Miss Margaret S. Davies, Newtown, Montgomeryshire, at auction, Sotheby's, London, 4 May 1960 (lot 120), and bought by Julius H. Weitzner (1896-1986), London dealer, for £600;
• February 1961: sold by Lawrence A. Fleischman (ca 1926-d. 1997), art dealer, to Hirschl & Adler, New York;
• December 1961: bought from Hirschl & Adler by Steven Juvelis (1921-1994), Marblehead, MA;
• May 1962: sold by Juvelis to the Vose Gallery, Boston;
• July 1962: sold by Vose to Roderic Henderson (fl. 1962) but returned;
• 1962: sold by the Vose Gallery to the Newark Museum, 10 September 1962, for $2300 (Felix Fuld Bequest).

According to Whistler, a small head of a girl, painted by him, was stolen from his studio in Paris. ¹¹ Other references, though confusing, suggest that this was Study of a Girl's Head but that it had not necessarily been stolen. According to the records of the art dealer Alexander Reid he had sold J. J. Cowan a 'Head' by Whistler, which was probably this painting, in April 1900 for £135. ¹² J. J. Cowan confirmed the price:

'The small head I gave £135 for & I have Reid's offer to take it back on demand for £150 after the expiry of one year from 1st April 1900 - That might indicate his bona fides? I don't remember that he wished it kept dark.

As you know I only told you of the big head, when doubts were thrown on the character of "the Bridesmaid"!

I admit I was completely taken in by the small panel.' ¹³

Describing it as 'The Bridesmaid', Cowan returned the painting to Whistler, stating:

'As to the "Bridesmaid" I had never dreamt of anyone attempting to forge your work. I had a very short look at the picture, and it was only afterwards that the signature & a suspicion of sentiment began to shake my faith!' ¹⁴

By October 1901 Whistler had identified two 'defective and purloined pictures' bought from Reid, as well as this smaller painting. ¹⁵ Whistler urged Cowan to write to Reid:

'... say that Mr Whistler declares both the pictures Mr Reid has sold to you to have been taken from his studio without his knowledge or consent - He claims them as his own property - and says moreover that they have been tampered with & painted upon - and that you cannot & will not for a moment entertain such a condition of things!' ¹⁶

This Cowan was reluctant to do, and indeed, as his lawyers pointed out, under Scottish law any such accusation would have to be investigated by the Public Prosecutor. ¹⁷ Not only that, but according to another art dealer, Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932), some paintings had not been stolen at all, but sold at a time that Whistler was hard up, and although he involved various dealers and lawyers, he eventually dropped the case. ¹⁸

It appears that Whistler did not return the painting to Cowan, and it was still in Whistler's studio at his death in 1903. On 19 October 1904 Whistler's executrix, Miss R. Birnie Philip, in accordance with Whistler's expressed wishes, attached a notice to the painting of a 'Small head of girl. Black dress & buttons', which read 'This picture was removed from Mr. Whistler's studio without his knowledge and worked on by some person unknown'. ¹⁹ She probably then returned the painting to Cowan. However, there is a long gap in the provenance at this time, until 1951, when it was lent by the Misses Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, Gregynog, to an exhibition in Aberystwyth 1951 (cat. no. 58) as 'Study of a girl's head'. Thereafter the provenance is complete, if complicated.

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. 487), plate 314, as 'Study of a Girl's Head'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• None.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• None.

Books, General

• None.

Catalogues 1906-Present

COLLECTION:

• American art in the Newark Museum: paintings, drawings, and sculpture, Newark, NJ, 1981.

EXHIBITION:

• Margaret S. Davies collection, National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, 1951 (cat. no. 51) as 'Study of a Girl's Head'.
• Spink, Nesta, Whistler: The Later Years, University of Michigan Art Gallery, Ann Arbor, 1978 (cat. no. 93).
• Newark Stories: Four Newarkers Who Made a Difference , Newark Museum, Newark, NJ, 2016-2017.

SALE:

• Sotheby's, London, 4 May 1960 (lot 120).

Journals 1906-Present

• Newark Museum Quarterly, Winter 1979, Vol. 30, no. 1, p. 18.

Websites

• Newark Museum website at http://gallery.newarkmuseum.org/view/objects/asitem/People@1055256.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 245a).

Other

• None.