The Little Nurse

Maker(s)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Historical period(s)
1895
Medium
Oil on wood panel
Dimensions
H x W: 12.6 x 21.7 cm (4 15/16 x 8 9/16 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1904.74a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Painting
Type

Oil painting

Keywords
child, house, United States
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. 12, 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.

Previous Owner(s)

John James Cowan (C.L. Freer source) 1846-1936
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

Most of Whistler's later small landscapes on panel were completed over the summer or fall in seaside tourist resorts. The Little Nurse was painted in Lyme Regis, Dorset. The frame is old, although it has been regilded. It was probably provided by the Goupil Gallery in London, in 1895 or 1896.

Published References
  • Andrew McLaren Young, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer. The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler. Studies in British Art 2 vols. New Haven, 1980. vol. 2: pl. 290.
  • Unknown title. vol. 21, no. 81 New York, November 1903. p. 16.
  • Oswald Sickert. The oil paintings of Whistler. vol. 30, no. 127 London, October 15, 1903. p. 16.
  • Mortimer Menpes. Whistler As I Knew Him. London. p. 140.
  • David Park Curry. James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1984. p. 147, pl. 55.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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