Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Little Blue Girl

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  Charles Lang Freer commissioned this painting in 1894, which Whistler described as “a figure to, in a way, hint at ‘Spring.’” He continued to work on it through 1896 as his wife, Beatrice, lay dying of cancer. Whistler confided to his patron that the act of painting helped ease his grief. The multiple layers of paint around the model’s face suggest an almost obsessive reworking of the surface. “I write to you many letters on your canvas,” Whistler explained to Freer.

• Provenance

  From 1903 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the artist in 1903 [1]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 1, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. According to Curatorial Remark 3, GD Guest, 1945, in the object record: "In reviewing the matter of the purchase of the painting [F1903.89], it transpires that a voucher covering its purchase was not included amongst the files sent from Detroit to Washington in 1920.

  But a search of the Whistler Letters reveals the fact that the oil painting, Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Little Blue Girl, as the artist just called it, was actually bought and paid for in 1894.

  A signed note from Mr. Whistler, dated 28 November 1894, acknowledges the receipt of a cheque to cover its cost and that of three drawings in pastel and water color (see Whistler Letters, no. 37).

  The painting, however, remained in Mr. Whistler's possession until his death, and Mr. Freer finally received it in August 1903.

  It is this date, and not the date of the cheque, which accounts for the entry in the original Purchase List and for the registration number, F1903.89, subsequently given to it...the frame designed for the painting was worked upon at some time between the date of actual purchase, 1894, and the date of the acquirement, 1903." See also, Curatorial Remark 4, David Park Curry, 1984, in the object record, as well as the Label Text Notes 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

  Ruffled Feathers: Creating Whistler's Peacock Room (July 13, 2024 to January 21, 2027)

  Freer & Whistler: Points of Contact (February 23, 2008 to January 3, 2016)

  Pretty Women: Freer and the Ideal of Feminine Beauty (August 13, 2005 to September 17, 2006)

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

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

  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)

  American Paintings (April 15, 1975 to December 5, 1975)

  Portraits and Figure Painting by James McNeill Whistler (October 2, 1972 to May 2, 1973)

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

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Oil Paintings, Gallery 3, 1955 (December 16, 1955 to February 25, 1956)

  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)

  Untitled Exhibition, University of Michigan Club, Detroit, 1914 (1914)

  Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)

  Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler (February 23 to March 22, 1904)

  Comparative Exhibition of Native and Foreign Art at the Galleries of the American Fine Arts Society (November 15 to December 11, 1904)

• 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

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1900s, 1890s

• Name

  Whistler, James McNeill, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Children

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings