Portrait of Whistler

Caricaturist Carlo Pellegrini, an admirer of Whistler, participated in London’s club life. He was member of the Beefsteak Club as well as the Arts Club, where one evening he drew this impromptu portrait of Whistler on a scrap of paper and gave it to Justin McCarthy, an Irish literary figure and politician. About two years later, Whistler presented Pellegrini with a freely drawn sketch after his oil painting Arrangement in Brown and Black: Portrait of Miss Rosa Corder (1876–78; Frick Collection, New York), referring to the Italian-born artist in his dedication as “mon Eleve,” or “my pupil.”