Page featuring several sketches of nude woman
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The image for this artwork is black-and-white. On a single sheet of paper, we see sketches of various views of a nude woman. She is slender, with her hair tied up. In the central, most detailed sketch, the woman stands facing the viewer, bending at the hip to touch her knees. In the top right she stands on tiptoe with her hands above her head, facing away from the viewer. At bottom right she looks back over her shoulder and crosses her arms over her chest. Other sketches show just her head or isolated lines representing curves of her body.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1929.83
People
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, American (Lowell, MA 1834 - 1903 London, England)
Title
Tillie
Other Titles
Former Title: Studies for Tillie
Former Title: Sketches for Tillie
Former Title: Studies of Nudes
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
1870-1873
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/306448

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Black and brown crayon with white chalk on brown wove paper
Dimensions
30.3 x 20.1 cm (11 15/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • label: backing board, paper: No. 5681
  • exhibition label: backing board, paper: No. 78, titled "Studies of Nudes"
  • label: backing board, paper and red ink, printed: [Printed advisement to notify registrar if work is damaged]
  • inscription: verso, upper left, black ink: Laurence D. Hodson / Compton Hall / Wolverhampton

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Laurence D. Hodson; sold at auction, Christie's, London, June 25, 1906; purchased at that sale by Tregaskis, June 25, 1906; Sir William Eden, sold at auction, Christie's March 1, 1918; Wise, purchased at that sale, March 1, 1918; Wallis, sold at auction, Christie's, London, May 10, 1918; Colnaghi, purchased at that sale, May 10, 1918; sold to Scott and Fowles, January 8, 1921; Philip Hofer; his gift to the Fogg Art Museum, 1929.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Philip Hofer
Accession Year
1929
Object Number
1929.83
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Exhibition of Oils, Water-colors, Drawings and Prints by James McNeill Whistler, exh. cat., Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Boston, 1934), no. 46
  • James W. Lane, Whistler, Crown Publishers Inc. (New York, NY, 1942), plate 50
  • Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr., American Drawings, Shorewood Publishers Inc. (New York, NY, 1965), repr. p. 72 as pl. 40
  • Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours: A Catalogue Raisonné, Yale University Press (New Haven, CT and London, England, 1995), p. 126, no. 367, reproduced
  • Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr., Virginia Anderson, and Kimberly Orcutt, ed., American Paintings at Harvard, Volume Two, Paintings, Drawings, Pastels and Stained Glass by Artists Born 1826-1856, Harvard Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2008), p. 396, cat. 427, ill.

Exhibition History

  • Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler: First President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, London, 02/22/1905 - 04/15/1905
  • Exhibition of Oils, Water-colors, Drawings and Prints by James McNeill Whistler, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 04/24/1934 - 05/13/1934
  • The American Line: 100 Years of Drawing, Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, 01/01/1959 - 02/15/1959; University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, 03/01/1959 - 03/21/1959; Newcomb College, New Orleans, 04/02/1959 - 04/22/1959; Speed Art Museum, Louisville, 05/04/1959 - 05/24/1959; Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, 06/10/1959 - 06/30/1959; Oglebay Institute, Wheeling, 08/01/1959 - 08/21/1959; Kansas State Teachers' College, Emporia, 09/03/1959 - 09/23/1959; Frye Museum, Seattle, 10/05/1959 - 10/25/1959; Tucson Art Center, Tucson, 11/08/1959 - 11/29/1959; Madison Art Association, Madison, 12/08/1959 - 12/31/1959; Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, 01/17/1960 - 02/21/1960; Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, 03/05/1960 - 03/25/1960; Root Art Center, Hamilton, 04/10/1960 - 06/05/1960
  • James McNeill Whistler, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 01/12/1968 - 02/25/1968; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, 03/17/1968 - 04/28/1968
  • Whistler in New England Collections, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, 11/22/1977 - 01/29/1978

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu