Whistler's inscriptions on this quickly drawn portrait let us assume that the sitter is George Saure, owner of the Red Lion. Sauer has a proprietary hand on the small change next to his glass. This is probably the type of sketch with which the artist answered the question, "Ou mangez-vous?" for he drew to help pay his expenses during the trip. In his letter to Deborah Haden Whistler mentioned "how the first night I made a portrait in pencil...for a plate of soup."
Provenance:
Seymour Haden (1818-1910), London [1]
To 1898
H. Wunderlich & Co., New York to 1898 [2]
From 1898 to 1919
Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from H. Wunderlich & Co., through Thomas Wilmer Dewing (1851-1938), in November 1898 [3]
From 1920
Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
Notes:
[1] See Original Whistler List, Haden Collection Drawings, pg. 2, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[2] See Voucher No. 20, November 1898, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.
[3] See note 2.
[4] 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.
Collection:
Freer Gallery of Art Collection
Exhibition History:
James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and Modern Life (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)
Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Drawings, Etchings, and Lithographs, 1959 (April 15, 1959 to November 2, 1959)
Previous custodian or owner:
Francis Seymour Haden (1818-1910)
H. Wunderlich & Co. (1874-1912) (C.L. Freer source)
