Public collection via the Art Institute of Chicago
AT-00004644Butterfly (recto); Fragment of Butterfly (verso)
Inscriptions
Inscribed recto, upper left, in black ink, in Whistler's hand: "top"; inscribed recto, right, in black ink, in Whistler's hand: "[length notation] / size from tip of antennae / to foot-" (written sideways); inscribed recto, lower right, in black ink, in Whistler's hand: "page 58. / "Shocking bad Raconteur" "; inscribed recto, upper center, in graphite: "5/16 16s." (written sideways); inscribed verso, upper right, in graphite: "oc 4123" (written sideways)
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. 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
Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels, and Watercolours: A Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, 1995), p. 564, no. 1569 (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 over graphite (recto), and brush and black ink over graphite (verso), on cream wove card
- Dimensions
- 12 × 15.9 cm (4 3/4 × 6 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- pen and ink drawings
- Place
- United States
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- Gift of Walter S. Brewster
- Accession no.
- 1933.290
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Open-access museum record · AT-00004644
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