Confidences in the Garden

Maker(s)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Historical period(s)
1894
Medium
Ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 21.2 x 16.2 cm (8 3/8 x 6 3/8 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1906.177
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Lithograph

Keywords
garden, United States, woman
Provenance

From at least 1906 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the artist by at least 1906 [1]

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

Notes:

[1] See Original Whistler List, Lithographs, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Regarding the purchase details for this object, a note in the Accession File, Collections Management office, states only: "From Mr. Whistler." Also, according to Curatorial Remark 2, G.D.G., 1921, in the object record: "No record existing of the time of purchase, the print was given a registration number for 1906, the year of the printed Inventory."

[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.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

James McNeill Whistler (C.L. Freer source) 1834-1903
Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

Whistler's lithograph catches Beatrix Whistler and her sister Ethel Birnie Philip deep in conversation as they stroll in the garden behind 110 rue du Bac. The high walls of the garden separated it from a nearby monastery. Arthur Jerome Eddy, one of Whistler's early biographers, recalled that the garden was often filled with the sounds of church bells and chanting monks.


Whistler lithographs are identified by "C." numbers as described in The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998). This print is C.100, one of two impressions. See also F1906.176.

Published References
  • The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vol., Chicago and New York, 1998. pp. 438-443.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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