UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Under the Statue, Luxembourg Gardens probably dates from between 1892 and 1894. It appears to have been drawn in the spring or summer, when the leaves were in full leaf, and the ladies could sit out in silky dresses.

It was drawn in Paris, where Whistler acquired a house at 110 rue du Bac in the spring of 1892. He was in Paris most of the time from 1892-1894, staying at first in the Rue de Tournon while his house at 110 Rue du Bac was completed. He made a slight pencil sketch of the terrace in the Luxembourg Gardens on the back of a letter dated 25 March 1892 (The Terrace, Luxembourg [m1332]). The weather in March 1892 was warm - 19.9 degrees maximum - and it was even hotter in the month of March in the following year. Temperatures tumble - and so do the leaves - in October and November, when it is less likely that Parisians would be sitting out without winter coats.

Whistler drew three lithographs of similar subjects including Conversation under the Statue, Luxembourg Gardens [c069] in 1893. In February 1894 he drew Nursemaids: 'Les Bonnes du Luxembourg' [c081], when it must have been rather cold, with a maximum temperature between 11 and 12 degrees centigrade, and in July, he made a 'new and pet drawing of Terrace Luxembourg Gardens' (The Terrace, Luxembourg [c087]) at the other extreme, when the temperature reached a high of over 32 degrees. 1