Girl with Cherry Blossom

Copyright

Work in the public domain
Image: Courtauld
by-nc

Maker


1834-1903

Title

Girl with Cherry Blossom

Date of Production

c. 1867-72

Dimensions

Height: 139.3 cm (canvas)
Width: 73.3 cm (canvas)

Object Number

LP.1997.XX.18

Mode of Acquisition

Private collection, loan, 1997

Credit

Private Collection. On long-term loan to the Courtauld Gallery, London

Location

On display
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Keywords

Label Text

This canvas is the central section of a larger decorative work commissioned by the Liverpool shipping magnate Frederick Leyland. It initially featured three young women; one of their parasols can still be seen in the upper right. James McNeill Whistler was dissatisfied with the composition and reworked it over many years, scraping off paint as he went along. In the end, he decided to destroy the painting but one of his patrons rescued this section. Whistler’s enthusiasm for Japanese art is apparent in the flat, decorative surface and the presence of a branch of cherry tree in bloom, a common motif.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the 1st Lord Aberconway; between 1871 and 1874. Thence by descent to the present owner.

Exhibition History

Masterpieces of Impressionism from The Courtauld Gallery, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 10/09/2019-15/12/2019; Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya, Japan, 03/01/2020-15/03/2020; Kobe City Museum, Kobe, Japan, 28/03/2020-21/06/2020
The Lost Symphony: Whistler and the Perfection of Art, Arthur M Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, 16/01/2016-30/05/2016
Summer Showcase - Unfinished, Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2015-20/09/2015
...More
Whistler and Russia, State Tretyakov Museum, Moscow, 07/12/2006-15/02/2007
Whistler to Sickert, Museo de Bellas Artes & Bilbao & Spain, 26/05/1998-19/07/1998
Whistler to Sickert, Sala de Expocisiones & Madrid & Spain, 17/03/1998-17/05/1998
In Perfect Harmony: Picture and Frame 1850-1920, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 31/03/1995-25/06/1995; Kunstforum, Vienna, 24/08/1995-21/11/1995
...Less

Literature

Whistler and Russia, State Tretyakov Museum, Moscow, 2006-07

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