Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00002242Butterfly
Inscriptions
Inscribed recto, right, in brown ink, in Whistler's hand: "(illegible, crossed out) page 12-"; inscribed recto, right, in brown ink, in an unknown hand: "[length notation] This size in width"; inscribed recto, lower right, in brown ink: [length notation, crossed out]; inscribed verso, lower left, in graphite: "a58640 / axx-"; inscribed verso, bottom center, in graphite: "7"; inscribed verso, lower right, in graphite: "a123"
Provenance
Sold by Albert Roullier Gallery, Chicago, to Walter S. Brewster (1872-1954), Chicago, April 16, 1920 [invoice; stamp (Lugt 2651 a-b), recto, lower left, in blue]; given to the Art Institute, February 1933.
Exhibition history
Chicago, Albert Roullier Art Galleries, "Original Drawings by Old and Modern Masters," March 7-21, 1921, p. 5, cat. 47. Chicago, Arts Club, "Portraits of Whistler and Some Original Drawings by Whistler, Loaned by Walter S. Brewster," January 19-February 7, 1923, cat. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10. Possibly Art Institute of Chicago, “Summer Exhibitions, James McNeill Whistler - Paintings, Prints, Whistleriana,” July 20-October 29, 1939, cat. 7 or 8.
Publications
James McNeill Whistler, Eden versus Whistler: The Baronet and the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict (Paris and New York, 1899), p. 12 (ill.). Frederick A. Sweet, James McNeill Whistler: Paintings, Pastels, Watercolors, Drawings, Etchings, Lithographs, exh. cat. (Chicago, 1968), p. 131 (ill.). Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels, and Watercolours: A Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, 1995), p. 563, no. 1566 (ill.).
Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- James McNeill Whistler / American, 1834-1903
- Date
- 1898/99
- Medium
- Pen and black ink on cream wove card
- Dimensions
- 20.8 × 14.6 cm (8 1/4 × 5 3/4 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- pen and ink drawings
- Place
- United States
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Walter S. Brewster
- Accession no.
- 1933.285
More by James McNeill Whistler in museum collections
Study for "Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle"
James McNeill Whistler1872–73 · Painting
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00000171
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00000181
Arrangement in Flesh Color and Brown: Portrait of Arthur Jerome Eddy
James McNeill Whistler1894 · Painting
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00000601
Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00000649
Open-access museum record · AT-00002242
Powered by Art Trackers