About This Artwork

James McNeill Whistler
American, 1834-1903

Green and Blue: The Dancer, c. 1893

Transparent and opaque watercolor, over traces of black chalk, on brown wove paper, laid down on card
275 x 183 mm
Restricted gift of Dr. William D. Shorey; through prior acquisitions of the Charles Deering Collection and through prior bequest of Mrs. Gordon Palmer, 1988.219

Exhibition, Publication and Ownership Histories

Exhibition History

Boston, Copley Society, "Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels, and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of he Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler," February 1904, cat. 96.

Buffalo, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, "The Works of J. A. McNeill Whistler from the Collection of Mr. Richard Canfield of Providence, Rhode Island," September 10-October 10, 1909, cat. 3 (ill.).

Berlin, Könikliche Akademie der Kunste, "Austellung Amerikanischer Kunst," March-April 1910, cat. 94; traveled to Munich, Royal Art Society, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.

Buffalo, Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, "Oils, Water Colors, Pastels, and Drawings by James McNeill Whistler lent by Mr. Richard Canfield," March 7-April 27, 1911, cat. 13 (ill.).

New York, Knoedler and Company, "Oils, Water Colors, Pastels, and Drawings by J. McN. Whistler," 1914, cat. 15.

Boston, Museum of Fine Art, "Oils, Water-Colors, Drawings, and Prints by James McNeill Whistler," April 24-May 13, 1934, cat. 41.

New York, The Frick Collection, "From Pontormo to Seurat: Drawings Recently Acquired by The Art Institute of Chicago," April 23-July 7, 1991, n.p., cat. 60; The Art Institute of Chicago, September 10, 1991-January 5, 1992.

The Art Institute of Chicago, "Songs on Stone: James McNeill Whistler and the Art of Lithography," June 6-August 30, 1998, pp. 56, 59, 60 and 75, cat. 108, fig. 67; the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, October 2, 1998-January 3, 1999.

The Art Institute of Chicago, "The Broad Spectrum: Color on Paper, Past and Present," September 12–October 31, 1999, hors. cat.

Publication History

Elizabeth L. Cary, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist's Works (New York, 1907) (ill.).

"Fifth Annual Exhibition...and an arrangement of seven works by James A. McNeill Whistler," Academy Notes Buffalo Fine Arts Academy V (January 1910), pp. 2-4 (ill.).

"The Seventh Annual Exhibition of Selected Paintings by American Artists," Academy Notes Buffalo Fine Arts Academy VII (July 1912), p. 45 (ill.).

Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler: Drawings, Pastels, and Watercolours: A Catalogue Raisonné (New Haven, 1994), pp. 495-496, no. 1376 (ill.).

The Essential Guide (Chicago, 2009), pp. 287 (detail ill.) and 303 (ill.).

Ownership History

R. A. Canfield, Providence, R.I., acquired directly from the artist, May 1903 [MacDonald 1994]; sold to Knoedler and Company, New York, March 1914 [MacDonald 1994]; sold to Harris Whittemore (1864-1927), April 1914 [MacDonald 1994]; sold, Christie's, New York, December 6, 1985, lot 178, to Peter Terian, New York [MacDonald 1994]. Sold by David Nisinson, New York to the Art Institute, 1988.