Milly Finch

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  A young woman reclining on a sofa, her left arm raised, holding an open fan, with a second figure behind the sofa at the right; signed with the butterfly at upper left.

• Signatures

  Red butterfly in upper left

• Paper/Support

  On cold-pressed, wove paper.

• Provenance

  To 1907

  Obach & Co., London, to 1907 [1]

  From 1907 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Obach & Co. in 1907 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See List of Whistler Purchases Since Making Up the Smithsonian Inventory, pg. 4, 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 and the Figure (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)

  James McNeill Whistler Pastels, Etchings, Paintings, Watercolors (November 11, 1976 to June 24, 1977)

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

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

  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)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Watercolors, Oil Paintings, and Pastels (January 20, 1944 to October 13, 1947)

  Whistler Pastels and Drawings, Re-arranged and some additions (January 7, 1924 to January 20, 1944)

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

  American Paintings, Pastels, and Water Colors, and Drawings. J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 7, 1924)

  "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (May 1886)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Obach & Co. (1884-1911) (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)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Obach & Co.

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Crop marks, Fans, Art, Iron oxide red, Bone black, Venetian red, Portraits, Madder, Zinc white, Cerulean blue, Ivory black, Burnt umber, Vermilion, Yellow ocher, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mars pigment, American Art, Raw sienna, Chrome yellow, Prussian blue, Woman, Raw umber, Burnt sienna

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings