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Portrait of Whistler with a Hat

Object Details

Previous custodian or owner
Ernest Delannoy (died ca. 1860 -1870)
Henri Valentin (1820-1855)
Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904) (C.L. Freer source)
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
Provenance
Ernest Delannoy (died circa 1860-1870), France, given by the artist [1]
Henri Valentin (1820-1855), France, purchased at auction, Hôtel des Ventes, Paris, upon the death of Ernest Delannoy in 1870 [2]
From 1871 to 1906
Samuel Putnam Avery (1822-1904), New York, NY, purchased from Henri Valentin in 1871 [3]
From 1906 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Samuel P. Avery in March 1906 [4]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [5]
Notes:
[1] According to Albert Eugene Gallatin's Portraits of Whistler: a Critical Study and Iconography, this painting was "[p]resented by Whistler to Ernest Delannoy. Bought by Samuel P. Avery from Henri Valentin in 1871. Bought by Charles L. Freer from Samuel P. Avery" (see Albert Eugene Gallatin, Portraits of Whistler: a Critical Study and Iconography [New York and London: John Lane Company, 1918], pgs. 47-48). According to the National Portrait Gallery's Catalogue of Later Victorian Portraits, Henri Valentin purchased the painting at an auction held at Hôtel des Ventes, following the death of Ernest Delannoy (see http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/personExtended/mp04794/james-abbott-mcneill-whistler?tab=iconography). See also, Curatorial Remark 2, Susan Hobbs, 1978, in the object record.
[2] See note 1.
[3] See note 1. See also, Original Whistler List, pg. 15B, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[4] See note 3.
[5] 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.
Data Source
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Artist
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Sitter
James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Date
1857-1859
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
H x W: 46.3 x 38.1 cm (18 1/4 x 15 in)
Type
Painting

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