Harris Schrank Fine Prints

Whistler – The Little Nude, Reading

James Whistler (1830-1903), The Little Nude Model, Reading, lithograph, 1889-90; [signed with the butterfly in the stone]. Reference: Spink 33, Way 29, only state. Printed by Goulding, January 1904, on a medium weight ivory laid paper with the watermark OWP & AOL, Spink watermark #219. In generally good condition (irregular mat staining outside of the image, a small paper loss left edge) on a large sheet, 10 1/4 x 7 3/4, the sheet 14 3/4 x 10 1/4 inches.

Provenance:

Colnaghi, London (with their stock number C4540 lower right recto)

Unidentified collector (circular stamp lower left verso, not found in Lugt)

Kennedy Gallery (with stock number A97479 verso)

Initials in pencil DK and HNO verso (not in Lugt, possible stock refererences)

A good impression of this popular image. Little Nude Model, Reading sold better than any other lithograph in Whistler’s 1895-6 exhibition at the Fine Art Society, and only one impression remained in his estate in 1903.

A total of 28 impressions of The Little Nude Model, Reading were made by Way, and just after Whistler’s death an edition of 55 were printed by Goulding.

James Whistler (1834-1903), The Duet, lithograph, 1894, signed in pencil with the butterfly lower left margin (also signed in the plate upper left). Reference: Spink 104, Way 64, Levy 95, only state; 39 lifetime impressions printed. In very good condition (slight rippling right), printed on cream laid paper, with full margins, 246 x 165 mm, 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches, the sheet 280 x 196 mm, 11 x 7 7/8 inches.

Provenance:

Rosalind Birnie Philip (her stamp verso, Lugt 406).

Birnie Philip, Whistler’s sister-in-law and executrix, used two stamps on the lithographs in her collection. Lugt 406, representing the initials RBP in a square, was meant to indicate a lifetime impression (L 405, circle shaped, indicated a posthumous impression).

The Duet shows Beatrix Whistler and her sister Ethel at the piano in the Whistler’s Paris home. It is based on a rather sketchy drawing of the same subject made a few weeks earlier (Spink 96). The Duet, a much richer version of the earlier attempt, is one of Whistler’s most successful efforts in lithography.