James McNeil Whistler in Venice
artist
Harper Pennington
(Newport, 1854 - 1920, Baltimore)
Date1880
Place MadeUnited States, North America
MediumGraphite on paper
Dimensions24.5 x 19.7 cm (9 5/8 x 7 3/4 in.)
ClassificationsDrawings
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberP27w20
eMuseum ID722095
EmbARK ObjectID18228
TMS Source ID6259
Last Updated8/9/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryHarper Pennington, who was part of the circle of artists befriended by Henry James, sketched this portrait of James McNeill Whistler during a youthful study trip to Venice in 1880. In later reminiscences, Pennington wrote of the painter’s “unending patience” with the younger artists who surrounded him. After Whistler’s death, Pennington gave this and several other drawings to Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1904 as a “small contribution to your wonderful collections.”
BibliographyNotesHarper Pennington. "Artist Life in Venice." The Century Magazine (October, 1902), p. 837, ill. (as titled "A Certain Master")
Eric Denker. In Pursuit of the Butterfly: Portraits of James McNeill Whistler (Washington, 1995), p. 113.
Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2004), pp. 89, 248, figs. 55, 183.
Eric Denker. In Pursuit of the Butterfly: Portraits of James McNeill Whistler (Washington, 1995), p. 113.
Elizabeth Anne McCauley et al. Gondola Days: Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Venice: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, 2004), pp. 89, 248, figs. 55, 183.
ProvenanceNotesGift from the portrait painter Harper Pennington (1854-1920) to Isabella Stewart Gardner, 15 March 1904.
Harper Pennington
late 19th century - early 20th century
International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers
about 1905
