Object Details
Artist
Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904)
Label
Whistler’s good friend Henri Fantin-Latour originally included this portrait as part of a large composition called Le toast: Hommage à la Verité (The Toast: Homage to Truth) that also depicted such avant-garde figures as the painter Edouard Manet and the poet Charles Baudelaire. The Frenchmen wore conventional black suits in the group portrait. Whistler, however, insisted on distinguishing himself by wearing a colorful Chinese robe. Fantin’s group portrait and Whistler’s painting The Princess from the Land of Porcelain were exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1865. Critics ridiculed Fantin’s work, and he later destroyed it, leaving only this fragment of Whistler.
Provenance
To 1906
Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904), New York, NY, to 1906 [1]
From 1906 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Samuel Putnam Avery in 1906 [2]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]
Notes:
[1] See Reserved List of Whistleriana, Wh. R. 1, L. 5807, pg. 1, 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
Peacock Room REMIX: Darren Waterston's "Filthy Lucre" (May 16, 2015 to June 4, 2017)
Freer & Whistler: Points of Contact (February 23, 2008 to January 3, 2016)
Picturing Whistler: Portraits and Self-Portraits (May 21 to December 3, 2000)
Whistler & Japan (May 14, 1995 to January 1, 1996)
American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler (January 17, 1985 to (end date unknown))
American Paintings (September 10, 1981 to March 12, 1984)
American Paintings (May 31, 1979 to June 17, 1980)
American Paintings (October 14, 1978 to March 18, 1981)
American Paintings (September 8, 1961 to May 2, 1973)
American Paintings (June 9, 1960 to September 8, 1961)
Untitled Exhibition, Scott & Fowles, 1951 (1951)
American Paintings, Miscellaneous (May 2, 1923 to March 23, 1925)
Portraits of Whistler and other Whistleriana (1918)
James McNeill Whistler (April 09, 1915 to April 27, 1915)
The Salon, 1865 (1865)
Previous custodian or owner
Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Date
1865
Accession Number
F1906.276a-b
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas mounted on aluminum panel
Dimensions
H x W: 46.8 x 36.6 cm (18 7/16 x 14 7/16 in)
Origin
France
Related Online Resources
Google Arts & Culture
See more items in
National Museum of Asian Art
Data Source
National Museum of Asian Art
Topic
portrait
artist
France
American Art
Charles Lang Freer collection
Link to Original Record
Record ID
fsg_F1906.276a-b