UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

The Corresponence of James McNeil Whistler

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John Howard Whittemore, 1837-1910

Nationality: American
Date of Birth: 1837
Place of Birth: Waterbury, CT
Date of Death: 1910
Place of Death:

Identity:

John Howard Whittemore was a partner of A. A. Pope in the National Malleable Castings Company in Cleveland, Ohio. He married Julia A. Spencer (1839-1863). Their son, Arthur Harris Whittemore, was, like John, a businessman and collector. Their daughter, Gertrude B. Whittemore (d. 1941), inherited a life interest in their most important painting, Symphony in White, No. I: The White Girl (YMSM 38).

Life:

J. H. Whittemore's son Harris visited Whistler in Paris in 1895, and bought Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian (YMSM 378) from him, according to Whistler (#09732). However, it is not entirely clear if he received the painting then, since several years later, the dealer E. G. Kennedy noted that he had bought it and sold it immediately to Harris's father, J. H. Whittemore (#09801).

The Whittemore collection included works by Whistler, Mary Cassatt, Degas, Manet, Monet and Eugène Carrière.

Bibliography:

Pasternak, Polly, 'Lunch with Monet', http://www.hogriver.org (accessed 2005); http://www.familysearch.org (accessed 2005); www.nga.gov/collection/gallery (accessed 2005).