Newport Canal, Shropshire
artist
Sarah Wyman Whitman
(Lowell, 1842 - 1904, Boston)
Dateabout 1878
Place MadeEngland, Europe
MediumPastel on paper
Dimensions36 x 41 cm (14 3/16 x 16 1/8 in.)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP11n36
eMuseum ID722128
EmbARK ObjectID10905
TMS Source ID171
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIsabella took care to exhibit the work of women artists in her museum, including this tranquil landscape painting by her friend Sarah Wyman Whitman. A prolific artist who worked in a variety of media, Whitman is best known for her designs for stained glass and book covers. She studied painting early in her career and exhibited oils and pastels in Boston beginning in the 1870s; Isabella was an early supporter and purchased this work in 1878. Whitman later designed the distinctive crest above the museum’s entryway, featuring a phoenix rising from the ashes and the French phrase C’est Mon Plaisir (It Is My Pleasure).
BibliographyNotes"Memorial Exhibition of Paintings by Mrs. Sarah Wyman Whitman." Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, vol. 4 (June 1906), p. 23. (entitled "Landscape (pastel)")
"Loans Recieved in 1906." Museum of Fine Arts, Thirty-First Annual Report (Boston, 1907), p. 23. (entitled "Landscape (pastel)")
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), p. 54. (entitled "Dawn Newport")
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 419. (entitled "Moonrise on a Canal")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 72. (entitled "Moonrise on a Canal")
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), p. 294, ill. (entitled "Moonrise on a Canal")
Shana McKenna, "Sarah Wyman Whitman: Artist and Advocate," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 30 November 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/sarah-wyman-whitman-artist-and-advocate
"Loans Recieved in 1906." Museum of Fine Arts, Thirty-First Annual Report (Boston, 1907), p. 23. (entitled "Landscape (pastel)")
Morris Carter. Isabella Stewart Gardner and Fenway Court (Boston, 1925; Reprint, Boston, 1972), p. 54. (entitled "Dawn Newport")
Philip Hendy. Catalogue of Exhibited Paintings and Drawings (Boston, 1931), p. 419. (entitled "Moonrise on a Canal")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 72. (entitled "Moonrise on a Canal")
Philip Hendy. European and American Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1974), p. 294, ill. (entitled "Moonrise on a Canal")
Shana McKenna, "Sarah Wyman Whitman: Artist and Advocate," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 30 November 2020, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/sarah-wyman-whitman-artist-and-advocate
MarksNotesInscribed (lower right, within a heart): W
Inscribed (on a Musuem of Fine Arts, Boston label affixed to the frame, verso): 807 CB
Inscribed (verso, in pencil): $100 / Mrs Gardner / Mrs Whitman
Inscribed (on a Musuem of Fine Arts, Boston label affixed to the frame, verso): 807 CB
Inscribed (verso, in pencil): $100 / Mrs Gardner / Mrs Whitman
ProvenanceNotesProbably purchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the gallery Doll & Richards, Boston for $100 on 8 March 1878. (entitled "Landscape Dawn Newport")
