Portrait study of Elinor Leyland, bust-length

Copyright

Work in the public domain
Image: Courtauld
by-nc

Maker

(artist)
1834-1903

Title

Portrait study of Elinor Leyland, bust-length

Date of Production

(circa) 1873

Medium

black and white chalk, moistened in areas, on thick brown wove paper

Dimensions

Height: 28 cm
Width: 18.4 cm

Object Number

D.1967.WS.99

Mode of Acquisition

William Wycliffe Spooner, bequest, 1967

Credit

Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Location

Not currently on display
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Keywords

  • kimonos

Label Text

Liverpool ship-owner Frederick Leyland was one of Whistler’s most important patrons in the 1870s, and the artist made numerous portraits of his family. The youngest child, Elinor, sat for him on many occasions and he found her a delightful model. The cross-over bodice she wears in this portait is a distinctive element of the design. Signed with Whistler’s butterfly monogram, the drawing is thought to be an independent work, rather than a preparatory study for a painting, and may have been exhibited at Whistler’s first one-man show in 1874.

Notes

Related to a drypoint executed in 1873 (see impression at the British Museum 1973,0915.26). There are thirteen pinholes in the drawing, suggesting it was fixed to the drawing block on several occasions, thus suggesting multiple sittings for Elinor.

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: right of centre, black chalk: “signed” by the artist with a butterfly. Verso: lower right corner, graphite: “Elinor Leyland / (Daughter of F.R. Leyland) / by J McNeill Whistler, 1873 / (from the Collection of Miss R. Birnie Philips) / the artist’s sister-in-law) / + Executrix //”; lower right corner, graphite, Colnaghi number: “A21301”.

Collector's mark: none.

Provenance

in the artist's studio at his death and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Miss R. Birnie Philip; purchased from her by Colnaghi (London), 20 January 1956; purchased there by William Wycliffe Spooner, Ilkley (1882-1967), 1 June 1956 (£160); Spooner Bequest 1967

Exhibition History

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/02/2011-15/05/2011
British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum and Art Gallery, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005
British Watercolours from the Spooner Collection, Huntington Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 12/02/2005-15/05/2005; Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere, 18/07/2005-23/10/2005; Hermitage Rooms, Somerset House, London, 16/11/2005-12/02/2006
...More
Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Related Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 11/05/1988-04/09/1988
The Graphic Work of James McNeill Whistler, London, Liverpool, Glasgow, 1976
English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, 11/05/1973-02/06/1973
English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe
Spooner, Harrogate, 1968
[Whistler's first solo exhibition], Pall Mall, London, 1874
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Literature

Life, Legend, Landscape - Victorian Drawings and Watercolours, The Courtauld Gallery, 2011
cat. no. 9
ill. on p. 64
The Spooner Collection of British Watercolours, Courtauld Institute Galleries; Huntington Library; Wordsworth Trust, 2005-06
cat. no. 108
ill. on p. 247
MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler drawings, pastels and watercolours, a catalogue raisonné, New Haven and London 1995
no. 518
ill. on p. 193
...More
Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and Related Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1988
cat. no. 38
English Watercolours: The Spooner Collection and Bequest, City Art Gallery, Bristol, 1973
cat. no. 66
English Water-Colours: Memorial Exhibition to William Wycliffe Spooner, Harrogate, 1968
cat. no. 47
Illustrated London News, 26 May 1956
Kennedy, Edward G., The etched work of Whistler: illustrated by reproductions in collotype of the different states of the plates, New York 1910
under no. 109
...Less

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