?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 800
Whistler, James McNeill (1834-1903) Eden versus Whistler. The Baronet & the Butterfly. A Valentine with a Verdict.
Paris: Louis-Henry May, 1899.
First edition, limited issue, octavo; copy number 25 of 250 [125 for France & 125 for America], with Whistler's butterfly signature below the limitation statement; additionally signed inscribed with presentation inscription on front fly leaf dated in Paris, May 1899; in the original yellow cloth-backed tan boards, gilt stamped, all edges uncut with a few gatherings unopened; (area of toning to preliminary blanks; boards solied and rubbed, corners exposed); 10 x 7 1/4 in.
This artist-versus-patron dis track is Whistler's version of his dispute with Sir William Eden. Eden commissioned Whistler to paint a portrait of Lady Eden in 1894. The painter was unhappy with the final product and decided to keep it, returning Eden's rather meager compensation for the work. Eden considered this a renege on their agreement and infuriated, sued Whistler for ownership. What followed was an extended and bitter battle, wherein Whistler at one point painted over Lady Eden's face with that of another sitter. He later reversed himself again and sanded down the overpainting. The courts first decided in Eden's favor, but Whistler won the appeal as the painting was never finished and therefore never legally changed hands.
