Reading a Book |  Freer Gallery of Art (1898.343) | |
| Number: | 112 | |
| Date: | 1873/1874 | |
| Medium: | drypoint | |
| Size: | 127 x 77 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | 'Cancelled Plates', 1879 | |
| No. of States: | 2 | |
| Known impressions: | 18 | |
| Catalogues: | K.111; M.110; W.97 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (18) | ||
PUBLICATION
It was published in an album of Cancelled Plates ('Cancelled Set') by The Fine Art Society, London, 1879.
EXHIBITIONS
One impression - the first to be exhibited - was shown at the Glasgow International Exhibition in 1888, lent by Bernard Buchanan MacGeorge (1845?-1924). 8 Another was shown with the collection of Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) at H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898, when it was bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919). The same firm exhibited another impression in 1903 (
). 9
The Grolier Club showed an impression of Freer's (probably) after Whistler's death, in New York in 1904. One was also shown at the Whistler Memorial Exhibition in London in 1905. 10
). 9 The Grolier Club showed an impression of Freer's (probably
) after Whistler's death, in New York in 1904. One was also shown at the Whistler Memorial Exhibition in London in 1905. 10 8: Glasgow 1888 (cat. no. 2552-21)
9: New York 1898 (cat. no. 92); New York 1903b (cat. no. 79); see REFERENCES : EXHIBITIONS.
10: New York 1904a (cat. no. 103); London Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 97).
SALES & COLLECTORS
Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought a first state that came from the collection of Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910), from H. Wunderlich & Co., in New York in 1898 (). It was bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) owned an impression of the second state, now in a private collection (). The third state has not been located.
). It was bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) owned an impression of the second state, now in a private collection (). The third state has not been located.The extant impressions from the cancelled plate are often still in the album as published in 1879. For instance, the British Museum bought an album in 1887 (), and Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought a set from Knoedler & Co. in 1893 (). Thomas Glen Arthur (1858-1907) also acquired a set in 1887 () which later went to Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Boston Public Library likewise acquired a set (). Early owners included George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) (). Finally, a set acquired by J. Littauer, Munich, was sold to the Hamburger Kunsthalle in 1896 ().
), and Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought a set from Knoedler & Co. in 1893 (). Thomas Glen Arthur (1858-1907) also acquired a set in 1887 () which later went to Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Boston Public Library likewise acquired a set (). Early owners included George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) (). Finally, a set acquired by J. Littauer, Munich, was sold to the Hamburger Kunsthalle in 1896 ().Prices were low but collectors and collections were keen to have the set of cancelled etchings, as a record of a substantial number of otherwise unrecorded etchings and drypoints. A set, probably acquired from the Fine Art Society by Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (ca 1840- d.1892), was auctioned in 1889 and bought by Robert Dunthorne (b. ca 1851) for £0.6.0. 11 Dunthorne exchanged it for other works with Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) who bequeathed it to the University of Glasgow (see ). She acquired another set, trimmed the impressions and stuck them on the envelopes containing the copper plates (i.e. ).
). She acquired another set, trimmed the impressions and stuck them on the envelopes containing the copper plates (i.e. ).11: Sotheby's, London, 13 December 1889 (lot 787 or 789).