Oscar Wilde and Whistler

Prints and Drawings

1894

Philip William May
English, 1864-1903

Phil May, a friend of Roussel and a member of the Chelsea Arts Club, contributed caricatures of actors, artists, and writers to London periodicals. The bold style and sharp wit of his drawings attracted a wide following, and his illustrations were also published in book form. This caricature of Wilde and Whistler was reproduced in Phil May’s Sketch-book, which was first issued in 1895. The caption refers to Whistler’s repeated assertions that Wilde plagiarized his ideas, accusations that ended their guardedly amicable relationship in 1890.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Philip William May
Title: Oscar Wilde and Whistler
Place: England (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1894
Medium: Pen and black ink, with black crayon and touches of blue crayon, on ivory laminate board
Inscriptions: Signed recto, upper right, in black ink: "Phil May / 94;" inscribed recto, at bottom, in black ink and graphite: " 'That was an awfully [witty remark] good joke you made last/ night. I wish I [had made it.] could say it was mine.' / 'You will [underlined] my boy. You will [underlined].';" inscribed and erased, lower right, in graphite: "Same size underlined]"
Dimensions: Sheet: 35.4 × 25.5 cm (13 15/16 × 10 1/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Walter S. Brewster
Reference Number: 1933.238
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/14393/manifest.json

Phil May, Phil May’s Sketch-Book, Fifty Cartoons (London, 1903), pl. XIII
Meg Hausberg and Victoria Sancho Lobis. Whistler and Roussel: Linked Visions. Department of Publishing of The Art Institute of Chicago, 2015 (https://publications.artic.edu/whistler/reader/linkedvisions ; Accessed August 24, 2015), Checklist para. 9, cat. 8.18 (ill.).

The Art Institute of Chicago, “Whistler and Roussel: Linked Visions,” June 20-September 27, 2015, Checklist para. 9, cat. 8.18 (ill.).

Sold by Albert Roullier Gallery, Chicago, to Walter Stanton Brewster (1872-1954, Lugt Suppl., 2651 a-b), Chicago, February 25, 1930 [invoice]; given to the Art Institute, 1933.

Gallatin 83

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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