A Violet Note
date: label: Date
content: 1885
name: label: Artist
content: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
notes: label: Label
content: "Take the pastels. Whistler did not discover the medium, but he certainly found a fresh use for it. Instead of rubbing the colour all over the paper, and generally endeavouring to imitate the effect of an oil painting, Whistler made a more crayon-like use of his pastel stick. He drew rather than painted. His colour he used sparingly with dainty, incisive touches. The result was a poetic suggestiveness of form and gem-like brilliancy of colour never seen before nor equalled since."
label: Label
content: Frank Rutter, Round the Galleries, Sunday Special & Times, March 26, 1905. Whistler Scrapbook 5, p. 42, Charles Lang Freer Papers, Freer Gallery of Art Archives.
label: Provenance
content: From 1894 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from the artist in 1894 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] See Original Whistler List, pg. 21, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
label: Provenance
content: [2] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Whistler's Nudes (April 21, 2002 to January 5, 2003)
label: Exhibition History
content: James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Figure (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: James McNeill Whistler Pastels, Etchings, Paintings, Watercolors (November 11, 1976 to June 24, 1977)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings (April 15, 1975 to December 5, 1975)
label: Exhibition History
content: Whistler Pastels and Water Colors (July 1 to July 31, 1974)
label: Exhibition History
content: Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 10 and 11 (February 25, 1956 to November 3, 1959)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Paintings and Drawings (December 14, 1955 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Works of Whistler (September 22, 1947 to April 11, 1955)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Watercolors, Oil Paintings, and Pastels (January 20, 1944 to October 13, 1947)
label: Exhibition History
content: Whistler Pastels and Drawings, Re-arranged and some additions (January 7, 1924 to January 20, 1944)
label: Exhibition History
content: American Paintings, Pastels, and Water Colors, and Drawings. J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 7, 1924)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
place: label: Origin
content: United States
topic: label: Topic
content: flower
label: Topic
content: woman
label: Topic
content: United States
label: Topic
content: American Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1894.26a-c
objectType: label: Type
content: Drawing
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Chalk and pastel on grey paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 27.6 x 18.1 cm (10 7/8 x 7 1/8 in)