Tête-à-tête in the Garden

Maker(s)
Artist: James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Historical period(s)
1894
Medium
Ink on paper
Dimensions
H x W: 19.5 x 16.2 cm (7 11/16 x 6 3/8 in)
Geography
United States
Credit Line
Gift of Charles Lang Freer
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Accession Number
F1906.170
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Print
Type

Lithograph

Keywords
eating, garden, United States
Provenance

From at least 1906 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), from at least 1906 [1]

From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [2]

Notes:

[1] See Original Whistler List, Lithographs, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Also, according to Curatorial Remark 2, G.D.G., 1921, in the object record: "No record existing of the time of purchase, the print was given a registration number for 1906, the year of the printed Inventory."

[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.

Previous Owner(s) and Custodian(s)

Charles Lang Freer 1854-1919

Label

Whistler's biographer Joseph Pennell identified the figures in this drawing as Beatrix's sister Ethel Birnie Philip and the journalist Charles Whibley taking a meal in the garden at 110 rue du Bac. Ethel Birnie Philip often posed for Whistler, and she served as his personal secretary in 1893 and 1894. She married Charles Whibley in Paris in July 1894.

Published References
  • The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler. 2 vol., Chicago and New York, 1998. pp. 438-443.
Collection Area(s)
American Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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