Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Artist:
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)  Search this
Medium:
Watercolor on paper
Dimensions:
H x W: 25.3 x 15.5 cm (9 15/16 x 6 1/8 in)
Type:
Painting
Origin:
United States
Date:
1883-1884
Description:
A girl seated on a bed, reading; signed with the butterfly at right edge on bedcover.
Signatures:
Pink butterfly near center at right edge
Paper/Support:
On cold-pressed, wove paper. Small graphite sight lines visible near both bottom corners.
Provenance:
To 1902
Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), London, to 1902 [1]
From 1902 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Henry Studdy Theobald in 1902 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Original Whistler List, Purchases from Thoebald, pg. 4, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 1, August 1902,
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[2] See note 1.
[3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
Whistler in Watercolor (May 18 to November 3, 2019)
Sweet Silent Thought: Whistler's Interiors (August 20, 2011 to August 26, 2012)
Mr. Whistler's Galleries: Avant-garde in Victorian London, 1883 (November 20, 2003 to April 4, 2004)
James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Figure (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)
Whistler Pastels and Water Colors (July 1 to July 31, 1974)
Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 10 and 11 (February 25, 1956 to November 3, 1959)
Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Paintings and Drawings (December 14, 1955 to February 25, 1956)
Untitled Exhibition, Works of Whistler (September 22, 1947 to April 11, 1955)
Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Watercolors, Oil Paintings, and Pastels (January 20, 1944 to October 13, 1947)
Whistler Pastels and Drawings, Re-arranged and some additions (January 7, 1924 to January 20, 1944)
Whistler Water Colors (January 7, 1924 to April 4, 1930)
American Paintings, Pastels, and Water Colors, and Drawings. J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 7, 1924)
Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture (1887)
Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures, and Photography (1884)
"Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (May 1884)
Previous custodian or owner:
Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Topic:
crop marks  Search this
bone black  Search this
cerulean blue  Search this
Prussian blue  Search this
raw sienna  Search this
iron oxide red  Search this
vermilion  Search this
zinc white  Search this
cadmium yellow  Search this
Mars pigment  Search this
yellow ocher  Search this
child  Search this
reading  Search this
United States  Search this
American Art  Search this
Charles Lang Freer collection  Search this
Credit Line:
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Accession Number:
F1902.158a-c
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
Related Online Resources:
Google Cultural Institute
Whistler in Watercolor
See more items in:
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
Data Source:
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ye37ca2d5f7-1332-42ff-b175-0619d90c8548
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:fsg_F1902.158a-c