Frame for Whistler's Caprice in Purple and Gold: The Golden Screen

Object Details

• Artist

  Designed by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Provenance

  To 1905

  Thomas Way Sr. (1827-1915), London, or Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London, to 1905 [1]

  From 1905 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Thomas Way Sr. or Thomas Robert Way in 1905 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] According to Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record. See further, Whistler Reserved List, R. 5803, as well as List of Whistler Paintings, etc., Transferred to S.I. on January 3, 1921, pg. 1, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  Thomas Way Sr. and his son, Thomas Robert Way, were lithographers who worked closely with Whistler on several of his projects. They helped with the printing of his etchings, as well as the printing of Whistler’s promotional materials. Both Thomas Way Sr. and Thomas Robert Way owned many Whistler works. Thomas Way Sr. acquired several of these works at the time of Whistler’s bankruptcy, and he passed some of them on to his son (see The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903, ed. Margaret F. MacDonald, Patricia de Montfort and Nigel Thorp, On-line Edition, People, biographies of Thomas Way and Thomas Robert Way; http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence).

  Charles Lang Freer acquired many Whistler pieces from the Ways. However, museum records do not always specify whether it was the younger or elder Way who was the source of a particular object. Further, archival sources indicate that the junior Way sometimes acted on behalf of his father: whilst negotiating the sale of his own Whistler works to C.L. Freer, he would concurrently negotiate the sale of some of his father’s Whistler works to Freer. In cases where it is unclear whether it was the junior or senior Way who actually owned a piece acquired by C.L. Freer, the provenance record will simply state that the object was purchased from “Thomas Way Sr. or Thomas Robert Way.”

  [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

  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)

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

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

  Whistler & Japan (May 14, 1995 to January 1, 1996)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Frame

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1850s, 1860s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Frames