UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

Annie, Seated was not published.

Two impressions were lent by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) to the show at the Union League Club in New York in 1881, listed as ' “Annie” / Sitting figure. Trial proof; rare.' and 'The same. With added work.' (, ). 10

In fact it was rarely exhibited, though impressions were for sale in print dealers' shows, at H. Wunderlich & Co. in New York in 1898, bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) (, ), and in 1903, as well as at Obach & Co. in London in 1903 and F. Keppel & Co. in New York in 1904. 11

An impression belonging to Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) was shown in the exhibition organised by the Caxton Club in Chicago in 1900 (either , or , or ). 12

Impressions were also shown in the Memorial Exhibitions after Whistler's death, including the Grolier Club in New York in 1904. Howard Mansfield (1849-1938) lent one to the Boston Memorial in 1904 ( or ) and King Edward VII to the London show in 1905. 13

The British Museum bought an impression of the first state in July 1868 () and two later impressions from Edmund Thomas (1842-1883) or Percy Thomas (1846-1922) in July 1872 (, ). 14 William Cleverly Alexander (1840-1916) owned a final state that was inherited by Rachel Alexander (b. 1876) who sold it to the B.M. in 1973 ().

James Anderson Rose (1819-1890) had two states of Annie, Seated, sold at Sotheby's, 27-9 June 1876 (lots 725). Prices at auction results were really low. At the sale of the collection of Philippe Burty (1830-1890) in 1876, a first state of 'A little girl seated' went for £2.2.0 and a second for only £0.7.0, possibly both bought by James John Heywood (1827-1887). 15 As 'Girl, seated in a chair', one failed to make its modest reserve of £0.4.0 at Christie's in 1881. 16

However, prices recovered in 1887, at the John W. Wilson (dates unknown) sale, when a first state brought £7.7.0, and a second, £1.1.0, bought by the print dealers Thomas M. McLean (b. ca 1832) and Alphonse Wyatt Thibaudeau (ca 1840- d.1892) respectively. Subsequent prices were lower: £0.16.0 for a first and £0.10.0 for a second state at the sale of the collection of Joshua Hutchinson Hutchinson (ca 1829 - d.1891) in 1892, bought by the print dealers Deprez & Gutekunst, and by Frederick Keppel (1845-1912) of F. Keppel & Co., respectively, and £1.4.0 for another first state at Christie's in 1892, also bought by Deprez. 17

Two impressions of the first state, owned by John W. Wilson (dates unknown) () and Francis Seymour Haden, Sr (1818-1910) (), were bought through H. Wunderlich & Co. by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) in 1891 and 1898 respectively. One first state was owned by Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) () and one was owned in turn by several distinguished collectors, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938), Harris G. Whittemore (d. ca 1937) and finally Lessing Julius Rosenwald (1891-1971) (). Freer also bought the second state, originally from Haden's collection, from Wunderlich's (). Avery also owned a third state, which was signed by the artist ().

Other collectors included James A. McCallum (1862-1948) (); Mrs T. H. Riches (dates unknown) (); Antonius Wilhelmus Mari Mensing (1866-1936) of Frederik Muller & Co. (); Ernest Stephen Lumsden (1883-1968) (); and Charles Deering (1852-1927) ().

Frederick Keppel (1845-1912) of F. Keppel & Co. was publisher, donor and print-dealer. He had a large edition printed from the copper plate. He gave an impression of the final state to the Whistler House Museum in Lowell, MA (), sold one () that was later acquired by Syracuse University Art Museum, and bequeathed one the Boston Museum of Fine Arts ().

In the 1960s Sears, Roebuck & Co. invited the actor Vincent Price to acquire original art works for their Fine Art Section. The Vincent Price Collection first went on sale in October 1962 in Denver, Colorado, and expanded to stores nationwide. It was a great success with the general public. Special catalogues were issued in 1963 and 1964, and in 1966, the Sears Vincent Price Gallery of Fine Art was opened in Chicago. The Vincent Price Collection was discontinued in 1971. 18

In an instructional film for Sears-Roebuck employees, Vincent Price described (in his seductive voice, with slight undertones of Edgar Allen Poe) his acquisition of some 2000 works, saying 'There is no excitement in the world like the excitement of owning an original work of art', and added that art is 'the ultimate in home furnishing!' 19

The Vincent Price Collection included a number of late impressions of Whistler's Annie, Seated. They were sold to collectors and collections all over the USA. One was given by Thelma R. Rosen to the Telfair Museum of Art, Savannah, GA in 1986 ().

Many have since been sold by auctioneers, art- and book-dealers and can be viewed online. One, with a label giving the original stock number GE 17475 and price tag of $40, was recently at Quinn's Auction Galleries in Falls Church, VA. 20 In 2012 Larry D. Laster in Winston-Salem, NC, sold one with a similar label, which gave the Sears stock number GE 16201 and the same original price of $40. 21 Feoli Fine Art owned another Vincent Price impression, on blue tinted paper. 22 One, described as on vellum, was at Grogan & Co., Dedham, MA, in 2011. 23