System Number: 09733
Date: 5 August [1895][1]
Author: JW
Place: Paris
Recipient: Edward Guthrie Kennedy[2]
Place: New York
Repository: New York Public Library
Call Number: E. G. Kennedy I/69
Credit Line: Edward Guthrie Kennedy Papers / Manuscripts and Archives Division / The New York Public Library / Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations
Document Type: ALS
110. Rue du Bac - Paris -
Aug 5 - '1895'
Now my dear O K - you really are entirely too innocent to be allowed out among The Chapmans[3] of this world alone! - It is most provoking - and moreover as you don't read your Gentle Art[4] you are without guide or compass, and easily imposed upon by the bland amiability of those gentlemen! -
Now if you will turn to the Bible of Art, you will see, at page 288 to 292, "Auto-Biographical", the whole explanation of the shady place given to the three girls[5] - for which Mr Chapman wanted 1000 pounds - As usual I behaved with [p. 2] great generosity - I went to him and offered to paint his portrait, full length - or that of his wife[6] - and make him a present of it, if he would give me that canvas that I might destroy it! But he would listen to nothing - and I told him that if he persisted in attempting to sell it, I would prevent him -
He saw nothing but the 1000 - and so I effectively put an end to the whole business by the letter which apparently [you] have never read - No doubt he and his brother[7] are great admirers of mine, for he always waited until I was hard up, and bought his pictures for nothing and is now seeing his way to sell them for large sums like his brother-in-law Potter[8] - who sold the "Blue Wave[9]," he paid me £50 for - for £1000. to Mr. Pope[10] -
By the way the "Sea & Rain[11]" (Ionides[12]) you liked so much, they are asking 300 guineas for - Ionides gave me £20. or 30 for! - And so they go on -
Is Chapman going to sell you the Bognor[13]?
I enclose the two latest from the Pall Mall[14] - which I suppose you will promise me no living eye shall look upon - whereas if you were less discreet you might send them to the N. Y. papers! -
I have received "The Clipper[15]". -
I am writing to Eddie[16] -
Yes £700. is a large price for a head - even though it be my own - It shows though that the Whistlers are not going down - and is [p. 3] a good reference for you, in pricing the other things -
Many thanks for the cheque for £44 - 5 - duly received -
Mr. Prange[17], (The Director of the Grafton Gallery) has the "Sarasate[18]", for sale - If you think you see the placing of it in America, you had better communicate with him - I suppose he will ask somewhere about £2000 or less - I have given him my lowest inside price - and of course he will want to make his large profit -
He stirred me up about the picture after you had gone - telling me he thought he could place it - So I had it looked up, and varnished, and it is in splendid condition -
You will be grieved to hear that we are still far from well! My wife[19] has been suffering much - and the weather has been terrible for her - but we are going to some French Springs at the end of the week I[20] hope, which I trust will give her health & strength again -
With[21] all our kindest remembrances,
Always
Yours,
J McN Whistler
Surely[22] you must not have opened the portfolio of etchings, for folded up separately, on the top I place the Westminster proof, Signed, for Mrs. Gardner[23].
[butterfly signature]
This document is protected by copyright.
Envelope:
'Aug. 5 /95'
ToE. G. Kennedy. Esq.
868 Broadway -
New York -
U. S. A.
Etats Unis[24]
[stamp:] POSTE / REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE / 25
[postmark:] PARIS-80 / R. DU BAC / 7E /1 6 / AOUT / 95
[postmark on verso:] P.O.N.Y. / 8 - 23 - 95 / PAID ALL
Notes:
1. 5 August [1895]
The year has been added in another hand on p. 1, and the date in another hand on the envelope.
2. Edward Guthrie Kennedy
Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932), dealer with H. Wunderlich and Co., New York [more].
3. Chapmans
Alfred Chapman (1839-1917), engineer and collector [more].
4. Gentle Art
Whistler, James McNeill, The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, London and New York, 1890.
5. three girls
Pink and Grey: Three Figures (YMSM 89).
6. wife
Mrs Alfred Chapman, wife of the collector [more]
7. brother
Possibly George R. Chapman (b. 1834), artist [more], or Dr Chapman.
8. Potter
John Charles Potter (1854-1920), wallpaper manufacturer and collector [more].
9. Blue Wave
Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz (YMSM 41).
10. Mr. Pope
Alfred Atmore Pope (1842-1913), manufacturer and collector [more].
11. Sea & Rain
Sea and Rain (YMSM 65).
12. Ionides
Alexander ('Aleco') Ionides (1840-1898), businessman [more].
13. Bognor
Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Bognor (YMSM 100).
14. Pall Mall
The Pall Mall Gazette, 7 August 1895, #10852.
15. The Clipper
Unidentified; possibly the newspaper, Sporting Clipper, published between 1872-1897 in London.
16. Eddie
Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859-1920), writer and collector [more].
17. Mr. Prange
Francis Gerard Prange (b. ca 1843), London art dealer [more].
18. Sarasate
Arrangement in Black: Portrait of Señor Pablo de Sarasate (YMSM 315). Kennedy sold this painting to the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh on 30 November 1896 for £900, with the help of John Caldwell, Board Chairman, Carnegie Art Galleries [more]. A note on this letter, written by Kennedy, reads 'The "Sarasate" I sold to the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh through John Caldwell's efforts.'
19. wife
Beatrix Whistler (1857-1896), née Beatrice Philip, artist [more], who was suffering from cancer.
20. I ... again
Written at the top of p. 1.
21. With ... Whistler
Written in the left margin of p. 1 at right angles to the main text.
22. Surely
The remainder of the text is written in the left margin of p. 2 at right angles to the main text.
23. Mrs. Gardner
Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924), née Stewart, collector [more].
24. Etats Unis
Double underlined.