Sketch after "Arrangement in Brown and Black: Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder"

Description

Caricaturist Carlo Pellegrini, an admirer of Whistler, participated in London’s club life. He was member of the Beefsteak Club as well as the Arts Club, where one evening he drew an impromptu portrait of Whistler on a scrap of paper and gave it to Justin McCarthy, an Irish literary figure and politician. About two years later, Whistler presented Pellegrini with a freely drawn sketch after his oil painting Arrangement in Brown and Black: Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder (1876–78; Frick Collection, New York), referring to the Italian-born artist in his dedication as “mon Eleve,” or “my pupil.”

Provenance

Given to Carlo Pellegrini (1838-1889), c. 1879. Possibly sold by Colnaghi, London, to Daniel H. Farr, Philadelphia, July 26, 1922 [MacDonald 1995]. Sold by Albert Roullier Gallery, Chicago, to Walter S. Brewster (1872-1954), Chicago, December 13, 1922 [invoice; stamp (Lugt 2651 a-b), recto, lower left, in blue]; given to the Art Institute, February 1933.

Sketch after "Arrangement in Brown and Black: Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder"

James McNeill Whistler

c. 1879

Accession Number

14526

Medium

Brush and brown wash, with pen and brown ink, on off-white laid paper

Dimensions

18 × 11.3 cm (7 1/8 × 4 1/2 in.)

Classification

wash

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Walter S. Brewster