Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Girl Reading in Bed
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This watercolor was presented to George A. Lucas (1824-1909), the art-agent and collector, who subsequently gifted it to Henry Walters in 1908, the year before his death. The model is Maud Franklin, who Whistler met in London, perhaps as early as 1872 when she was just 15 years old. Franklin posed in a kimono as body-double for Mrs. Frances Leyland, who Whistler was painting at this time. Franklin seems to have become romantically involved with the artist during these sittings. After they relocated to France in 1879 Franklin suffered ill health and Whistler depicted her in bed several times (see James McNeill Whistler "Drawings, Pastels, and Watercolours: A Catalogue Raisonné," by Margaret F. MacDonald, pp. 342-344). She was the mother of two chidren with Whistler, but the affair ended in 1888 when he married Beatrix Godwin.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Presented to George A. Lucas by the artist, likely before 1886 [1]; given to Henry Walters, Baltimore, 3 August 1908; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
[1] Lucas and Whistler had no personal contact after 1886.
Exhibitions
| 2001 | The American Artist as Painter and Draftsman. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 1994-1995 | James McNeill Whistler. Tate Britain, London; Musee D'Orsay, Paris; National Gallery of Art, Washington. |
| 1987 | American Drawings from the Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1984 | Notes, Harmonies and Nocturnes: Small Works by James McNeill Whistler. Knoedler & Co., New York. |
| 1983 | A Connoisseur's Portfolio: Nineteenth-century Drawings and Watercolors in the Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1979 | A Baltimorean in Paris: George A. Lucas, 1860-1909. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1978 | Whistler: The Later Years. The University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 9/15/1968 | Loan Consideration | examined for loan |
| 3/29/1978 | Examination | examined for loan |
Geographies
France (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 13/16 x W: 6 7/8 in. (25 x 17.4 cm); Framed, H: 16 15/16 × W: 8 11/16 × D: 2 3/16 in. (43 × 22 × 5.5 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of George A. Lucas to Henry Walters, 1908
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.318