Moreby Hall

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  An interior of Moreby Hall in Yorkshire; in the center of the wall a large open fireplace with paintings above; to the left a seated figure; signed with butterfly at lower left.

• Signatures

  Blue-black butterfly in lower left corner

• Paper/Support

  On cold-pressed, wove paper mounted overall to board. The paper support is mounted on top of a manufactured board that already had a facing paper. Graphite sight marks in all four corners.

• Provenance

  To 1904

  John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh, Scotland, to 1904 [1]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John James Cowan, through William Marchant and Co, London, in June 1904 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 19, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] 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

  Whistler in Watercolor (May 18 to November 3, 2019)

  Mr. Whistler's Galleries: Avant-garde in Victorian London, 1883 (November 20, 2003 to April 4, 2004)

  James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art: Whistler as Decorator (May 11, 1984 to December 5, 1984)

  Whistler Pastels and Water Colors (July 1 to July 31, 1974)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Paintings and Drawings (December 14, 1955 to February 25, 1956)

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

  Whistler Water Colors (January 7, 1924 to April 4, 1930)

  Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)

  78th Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture (Spring or Autumn of 1904)

  "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (May 1884)

• Previous custodian or owner

  John James Cowan (1846-1936) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Cowan, John James

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Crop marks, Art, Cadmium yellow, Iron oxide red, Bone black, Zinc white, Cerulean blue, Vermilion, Mounting, Yellow ocher, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mars pigment, American Art, Raw sienna, Fire, Strontium chromate, Prussian blue, Emerald green, Burnt sienna

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings