System Number: 03049
Date: [19 March 1902][1]
Author: JW
Place: London
Recipient: Richard Albert Canfield[2]
Place: Paris
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler LB 4/137
Document Type: MsLc[3]
Dear Mr Canfield -
I shall barely catch the post with this line only, to tell you that I have had your two letters[4] -
I thought it nice of you to make your pilgrimage to the Luxembourg[5] - and was greatly pleased to know how you overcame difficulties and reached the innermost temple! and were solemnly & respectfully left alone & undisturbed - beyond the curtain!
There is plenty to tell you - but the post is always too "slim" for me -
[p. 2] We shall begin moving into the new house[6] - and studio - on Wednesday next - so if you have anything in Paris to interest you, don't run over for our matters just yet!
I believe that you will be pleased with the enclosed which has come upon me since we met! -
I am sending the portrait of Mrs Vanderbilt[7] to the Champ de Mars - But this is a secret - confided to you only - It is to be a surprise to them on their arrival[8]!
I am glad your Doctor has done you so much good -
I am not yet quite "through" but better and if the sun would only shine upon me, would be perfect! -
Always sincerely
J. McNeill Whistler
36. Tite Street. Chelsea.
This document is protected by copyright.
Envelope:
Richard Canfield Esq.Hotel Bristol.
Place Vendame.
Paris -
"Telegram from Guthrie[9] saying Royal Scottish Academy had unanimously voted Whistler member. Seconded by Moll[10]."
Notes:
1. [19 March 1902]
Dated from the postmark as copied by Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), JW's sister-in-law [more].
2. Richard Albert Canfield
Richard Albert Canfield (1855-1914), gambler [more].
3. MsLc
Letter and envelope address copied by Rosalind Birnie Philip.
4. two letters
Untraced.
5. Luxembourg
The Musée du Luxembourg in Paris where Canfield would have seen Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother (YMSM 101).
6. house
74 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.
7. portrait of Mrs Vanderbilt
Ivoire et or: Portrait de Madame Vanderbilt (YMSM 515) intended for the 12th Exhibition, Ouvrages de Peintures, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, Architecture et Objets d'Art, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1902.
8. arrival
George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914), collector [more], and his wife.
9. Guthrie
James Guthrie (1859-1930), landscape and portrait painter [more].
10. Moll
'Telegram ... Moll' is Miss Birnie Philip's record of a note written by Richard Canfield on the original envelope. She appears to have misread Hole as 'Moll.' JW's election was seconded by William Brassey Hole (1846-1917), painter and graver [more] (#01877).