Purple and Gold: Phryne the Superb!-- Builder of Temples

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  As recorded by several Greek commentators, Phryne was both a rich woman--a "Builder of Temples"--and an artist's model. Indeed, she was the archetypal female model: the woman who posed for the first monumental female nude in the history of Western art, the Aphrodite of Cnidus by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles. Praxiteles obscured the identity of his model (and mistress) by representing her as a goddess. Whistler brings the history of the female nude full circle by undoing this mystification. Ignoring the idealized marble goddess within the temple, he gives us the flesh-and-blood model in the artist's studio.

• Provenance

  From 1902 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the artist in 1902 [1]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 4, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Mr. Freer selected this painting in Mr. Whistler's Paris Studio in 1900, and purchased in 1902 (for further detail, see Curatorial Remark 5, David Park Curry, 1984, in the object record).

  [2] 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

  Small Masterpieces: Whistler Paintings from the 1880s (April 2, 2005 to November 11, 2008)

  Whistler's Nudes (April 21, 2002 to January 5, 2003)

  Art for Art's Sake (July 23, 1997 to January 24, 2008)

  American Art - James McNeill Whistler (May 9, 1993 to June 30, 1997)

  American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler 1834-1903 (February 6, 1985 to March 4, 1986)

  James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Figure (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)

  American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler (November 11, 1976 to March 18, 1981)

  Whistler Paintings (September 8, 1961 to October 15, 1969)

  American Paintings (June 9, 1960 to September 8, 1961)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 10 and 11 (February 25, 1956 to November 3, 1959)

  Untitled Exhibition, Works of Whistler (September 22, 1947 to April 11, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, American Oil Paintings, Gallery 3, 1947 (September 25, 1947 to April 12, 1955)

  American Paintings, J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to February 12, 1944)

• Previous custodian or owner

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1890s

• Name

  Whistler, James McNeill, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Woman

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings