Bibi Valentin |  Freer Gallery of Art (1892.8) | |
| Number: | 34 | |
| Date: | 1859 | |
| Medium: | etching and drypoint | |
| Size: | 152 x 228 mm | |
| Signed: | 'Whistler.' at lower left | |
| Inscribed: | '1859.' at lower left | |
| Set/Publication: | no | |
| No. of States: | 2 | |
| Known impressions: | 44 | |
| Catalogues: | K.50; M.50; T.26; W.28 | |
| Impressions taken from this plate (44) | ||
PUBLICATION
The Fine Art Society, London, may have acquired the copper plate at Whistler's bankruptcy sale, and intended to publish it in a set of cancelled plates in 1879, but dropped it from the edition as generally circulated. One set includes an impression of the cancelled etching (
) but it may have come from another source at a later date.
) but it may have come from another source at a later date.EXHIBITIONS
It was first exhibited with the travelling exhibition of the collection of James Anderson Rose (1819-1890) in 1874. 8 Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) lent one to the Union League Club in New York in 1881 (). 9
Both Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) (possibly) and Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) () lent impressions to the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900. 10 Furthermore in 1904 Mansfield lent an ordinary impression and a counterproof (which has not been located) to the Boston Whistler Memorial show, and it was probably he who lent a similar combination to the Grolier Club exhibition in New York in the same year. 11
Impressions were also shown by print dealers, by H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898 - when one was bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) () - and 1903, and by Obach & Co. in London in 1903. 12
Impressions were then shown in the principal Memorial Exhibitions after Whistler's death, in Paris and London in 1905. 13
). 9 Both Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) (possibly
) and Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916) () lent impressions to the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900. 10 Furthermore in 1904 Mansfield lent an ordinary impression and a counterproof (which has not been located) to the Boston Whistler Memorial show, and it was probably he who lent a similar combination to the Grolier Club exhibition in New York in the same year. 11 Impressions were also shown by print dealers, by H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898 - when one was bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) (
) - and 1903, and by Obach & Co. in London in 1903. 12 Impressions were then shown in the principal Memorial Exhibitions after Whistler's death, in Paris and London in 1905. 13
8: Liverpool 1874 (cat. no. 485).
9: New York 1881 (cat. no. 42).
10: Chicago 1900 (cat. nos. 28, 28a).
11: Boston 1904 (cat. nos. 23, 24); New York 1904a (cat. nos. 30, 30c).
12: New York 1898 (cat. no. 27). See REFERENCES: EXHIBITIONS.
13: London Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 28); Paris Mem. 1905 (cat. no. 304).
SALES & COLLECTORS
An early impression of the second state, still showing the marks of burnishing, was owned by George Aloysius Lucas (1824-1909) (). Another impression was bought in the 1870s by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (). The British Museum acquired its second state from Percy Thomas (1846-1922) in 1872 (). 14 H. Stewart Cundell noted it as among 'remarkable works' in the 'scanty collection of modern etchings in the British Museum.' 15
). Another impression was bought in the 1870s by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (). The British Museum acquired its second state from Percy Thomas (1846-1922) in 1872 (). 14 H. Stewart Cundell noted it as among 'remarkable works' in the 'scanty collection of modern etchings in the British Museum.' 15 14: B.M. Register of Purchases ... 1872.
15: Anon., [H. Stewart Cundell], 'English Etching', The Standard, London, 25 April 1878, p. 2 (GUL PC1/94).
At the sale of the collection of John W. Wilson (dates unknown) at Sotheby's, 23 April 1887 (lot 403) 'Bibi Valentine' [sic] '... brilliant impression, before the plate was cleaned' was bought by Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (ca 1840- d.1892) for £9.15.0; this is the highest price recorded for this etching. Other print dealers paid considerably less at auction.
Two impressions from the collection of the late Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (ca 1829 - d.1891), sold in 1892, a 'trial proof, before the left hand was put in' and an impression of the second state 'with the left hand' which were bought by Edmund F. Deprez (1851-1915) of Deprez & Gutekunst for £2.12.0 and
£3.16.0 respectively. 16 Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) bought Hutchinson's first state in May 1892 (). Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) had owned an early impression, which was also bought by Freer, in 1898 () from Wunderlich's.
). Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) had owned an early impression, which was also bought by Freer, in 1898 () from Wunderlich's.16: Sotheby’s, 3 March 1892 (lots 74 and 75).
Frederick Keppel (1845-1912) of F. Keppel & Co. paid £3.15.0 for a second state from the collection of William Richard Drake (1817-1890), sold in 1892. 17 Keppel later gave one impression of the second state to the Whistler House Museum in Lowell, MA () and another to John W. Beatty, Jr, in May 1897 (). Finally he bequeathed one to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (). These may have been printed from the copper plate in the 1890s, when Keppel could have owned the plate.
) and another to John W. Beatty, Jr, in May 1897 (). Finally he bequeathed one to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (). These may have been printed from the copper plate in the 1890s, when Keppel could have owned the plate.17: Christie’s, 8-9 March 1892 (lot 295).
.