The Menpes Children |  Freer Gallery of Art (1909.117) | |
| Number: | 300 | |
| Date: | 1887 | |
| Medium: | etching | |
| Size: | 68 x 101 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at lower left | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | M. Menpes, 'Whistler as I Knew Him', London, 1904 | |
| No. of States: | 1 | |
| Known impressions: | 12 | |
| Catalogues: | K.261; M.257; W.212 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (12) | ||
PUBLICATION
It was published after Whistler's death as a frontispiece to the edition-de-luxe of Whistler as I knew him in a limited edition of 500 copies signed by Mortimer Luddington Menpes (1860-1938). 9
9: Menpes 1904 A.
EXHIBITIONS
It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime. It was, however shown after his death, in the Grolier Club in New York in 1904, and at the Whistler Memorial Exhibition in London in 1905, to which an impression was lent by Messrs Ernest Brown & Phillips. 10
10: New York 1904a (cat. no. 221); London Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 212).
SALES & COLLECTORS
Messrs Dowdeswell, after consulting the newly published catalogue by Frederick Wedmore (1844-1921), requested impressions of a number of etchings including this in February 1887. 11 However, it was not available, presumably because Whistler no longer had the copper plate.
Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) stated that 'One of the two proofs printed in the artist's lifetime is in the Mansfield Collection' (
). 12 This impression was later acquired by Lessing Julius Rosenwald (1891-1971) who gave it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought one impression from F. Keppel & Co. in 1905 () and another - definitely a life-time impression - from Obach & Co. in 1909 (), both of which were bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.
The British Museum acquired an impression in 1905 (). The University of Glasgow did not inherit an impression with the Whistler estate but bought one at auction in 1964, which was said to have come from the collection of Mortimer Menpes himself (). Both are posthumous impressions.
Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) stated that 'One of the two proofs printed in the artist's lifetime is in the Mansfield Collection' (
). 12 This impression was later acquired by Lessing Julius Rosenwald (1891-1971) who gave it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought one impression from F. Keppel & Co. in 1905 (
) and another - definitely a life-time impression - from Obach & Co. in 1909 (), both of which were bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.The British Museum acquired an impression in 1905 (
). The University of Glasgow did not inherit an impression with the Whistler estate but bought one at auction in 1964, which was said to have come from the collection of Mortimer Menpes himself (). Both are posthumous impressions.11: Dowdeswell's to Whistler, 4 February 1887, GUW #00888.
12: Mansfield 1909 (cat. no. 257).