The Little Note in Yellow and Gold
artist
James McNeill Whistler
(American, 1834 - 1903)
subject
Isabella Stewart Gardner
(New York, 1840 - 1924, Boston)
Date1886
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumChalk and pastel on brown paper
Dimensions27 x 14 cm (10 5/8 x 5 1/2 in.)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP25e1
eMuseum ID720818
EmbARK ObjectID10902
TMS Source ID168
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis small pastel is a portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner. Gardner and James McNeill Whistler enjoyed a long relationship that began as patron and artist, but gradually grew into a warm friendship. Author Henry James introduced the two in 1879, while the Gardners were in London with their three nephews. Isabella sat for this portrait in 1886 and over the next several years, acquired more of his works. Four of these are on display in the Veronese Room. As a symbol of their friendship, Whistler gave Gardner his bamboo walking stick which she displayed in the Sargent / Whistler Case in the Long Gallery.
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 18. (as "Pastel," by Whistler)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 201.
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), pp. 103-05.
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 6, ill. 3.
Corinna Lindon Smith. Interesting People (Norman, Oklahoma, 1962), p. 156.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 19 (6 Jan. 1963), p. 1. (excerpting Morris Carter, pp. 103-05)
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 292-93 (as "Mrs. Gardner in Yellow and Gold").
Margaret F. MacDonald. James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours, a Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, 1995), pp. 412-13, no. 1116.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 196-97.
Cynthia Saltzman. Old Masters, New World: America’s Raid on Europe’s Great Pictures (New York: Penguin Books, 2008), p. 53.
Kathleen King, "Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: James McNeill Whistler," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 July 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/james-mcneill-whistler-walking-stick
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 201.
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), pp. 103-05.
Morris Carter. "Mrs. Gardner & The Treasures of Fenway Court" in Alfred M. Frankfurter (ed.). The Gardner Collection (New York, 1946), p. 6, ill. 3.
Corinna Lindon Smith. Interesting People (Norman, Oklahoma, 1962), p. 156.
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 19 (6 Jan. 1963), p. 1. (excerpting Morris Carter, pp. 103-05)
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), pp. 292-93 (as "Mrs. Gardner in Yellow and Gold").
Margaret F. MacDonald. James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours, a Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, 1995), pp. 412-13, no. 1116.
Alan Chong et al. (eds.) Eye of the Beholder: Masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 2003), pp. 196-97.
Cynthia Saltzman. Old Masters, New World: America’s Raid on Europe’s Great Pictures (New York: Penguin Books, 2008), p. 53.
Kathleen King, "Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee: James McNeill Whistler," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 9 July 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/james-mcneill-whistler-walking-stick
MarksNotesSigned (center right): Whistler's butterfly signature
ProvenanceNotesCommissioned by Isabella Stewart Gardner from James McNeill Whistler, London, 30 October 1886 for 100 guineas.
Object/Provenance
