Etchings Institutions search term: american art association
The Pierrot |  Hunterian Art Gallery (46642) | |
| Number: | 450 | |
| Date: | 1889 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 231 x 162 mm | |
| Signed: | butterfly at upper left (6-final) | |
| Inscribed: | no | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 8 | |
| Known impressions: | 33 | |
| Catalogues: | K.407; M.406; W.264 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (33) | ||
PUBLICATION
EXHIBITIONS
), at the Grolier Club in New York. 14
Walter Steuben Carter (1824-1904) bought several fine impressions from the 'Amsterdam Set' and lent them to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. 15
Impressions were shown by print dealers, H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898 and 1903 and Obach & Co. in London in 1903. 16
14: London Dunthorne 1890 ; Brussels 1890 (cat. no. 1049); New York 1890a .
15: Chicago 1893 (cat. no. 2268 [1682]).
16: See REFERENCES : EXHIBITIONS.
17: The Academy, London, 20 May 1899, pp. 561-2; London ISSPG 1899 (cat. no. 248).
). 18 Other impressions appeared at major exhibitions in Buffalo in 1901, Dresden in 1901 and 1902 (), and, lent by Howard Mansfield (1849-1938), in Philadelphia in 1902 (, ). 19
Impressions were exhibited at the Memorial Exhibitions after Whistler's death, including three shown at the Grolier Club in New York in 1904 and one at the Paris Memorial show in 1905. Mansfield lent his impression to the Boston show in 1904 (
), H.R.H. the Princess Victoria to the London exhibition in 1905, and Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) to an exhibition in Rotterdam in 1906 (). 20
18: Chicago 1900 (cat. no. 230).
19: Philadelphia 1902 (cat. no. 947 [264]).
20: New York 1904a (cat. nos. 284, b, c, d); Boston 1904 (cat. no. 191); London Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 264); Rotterdam 1906 (cat. no. 41).
SALES & COLLECTORS
Whistler then sold impressions direct to several private collectors including John Postle Heseltine (1843-1929) in March 1890; on 4 March he sold one to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) that had just been printed on 23 February (
) and another to Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) (); and then sold impressions to art dealers, Messrs Dowdeswell and the Fine Art Society. 22
He sold a 'first state' and a 'later state' (possibly
) to H. Wunderlich & Co. of New York, on 3 April. 23 Impressions were also sold to Frederick Keppel (1845-1912) of F. Keppel & Co. on 23 June 1890 and 13 January 1891. 24 At the same price - £15.15.0 - he sold another one to Deprez & Gutekunst. 25 A '1st Proof' was sold to Wunderlich's on 6 May for a much higher price, £18.18.0 () and another impression on 11 August for the lower price of £15.15.0. 26 One of the impressions sold to Wunderlich's is inscribed 'Early state / for Wunderlich' (), and other, later states, just 'For Wunderlich' ( numbered '3'; and ). Another two were bought by H. Wunderlich & Co. in 1898 for £12.12.0, after their discount, and in 1900 for £15.15.0. 27
In 1901 Whistler sold an assortment of eight etchings, including The Pierrot (
), and a lithograph to the Königl. Kupferstichkabinett Dresden for £50.0.0. 29
At auction an impression from the collection of the late Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (ca 1829 - d.1891) was sold at Sotheby’s, 3 March 1892 (lot 346) to the London print dealer Robert Dunthorne (b. ca 1851) for £13.0.0. Dunthorne continued to buy impressions from Whistler, one for a very high price, £18.18.0, on 24 December 1902, possibly as a last-minute Christmas present, and another on 8 June 1903 for the highest price of all, £21.0.0. This was shortly before Whistler's death and the price may reflect Dunthorne's knowledge that the artist was failing. 30 At this time there were still three impressions in Whistler's studio, which were bequeathed to Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958) (
, and ).28: 15 May 1890 =28 April 1890, Merrill 1995 , p. 67 (Letter 2), GUW #01501.
29: GUW #05204; E. R. Bankgeschäft to Whistler, GUW #00947.
30: Whistler to Robert Dunthorne (b. ca 1851), GUW #13040; #13042.
); John Henry Wrenn (1841-1911) (); Henry Harper Benedict (1844-1935) (); Clarence Buckingham (1855-1913) (); Harry Brisbane Dick (1855-1916) (); Albert W. Scholle (1860-1917) (); Harris G. Whittemore (d. ca 1937) (); Margaret Selkirk Watson Parker (1867-1936) (); George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914) () and Pauline Kohlsaat Palmer (1882-1956) ().