Highlights from the Collection

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Paris. Studio of François Bonvin, 189 rue St. Jacques. 1859.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. 1860, no. 598.
London. Morgan's Gallery, Berners St. 1862.
Paris. Salon of 1867, no. 1561.
London. International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers. May 1898, no. 177.
Edinburgh. Royal Scottish Academy. 1899, no. 143.
London. New Gallery. Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the Late James McNeill Whistler, February 22–April 15, 1905, no. 75.
Paris. Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler, May 1905, no. 2bis.
London. Tate Gallery. Loan Exhibition of Works by J. M. Whistler, July 1912, no. 22.
London. French Gallery. Collection of Edmund Davis, Esq., March 1915, no. 5.
New York. Scott and Fowles. January 1940.
Maryland. Baltimore Museum of Art. From El Greco to Pollock: Early and Late Works by European and American Artists, October 22–December 8, 1968, no. 89.
New York. Columbia University. From Realism to Symbolism: Whistler and His World, March 4–April 3, 1971, no. 4.
Pennsylvania. Philadelphia Museum of Art . From Realism to Symbolism: Whistler and His World, April 15–May 23, 1971, no. 4.
London. Tate Gallery. James McNeill Whistler, October 12, 1994–January 8, 1995.
Paris. Musée d'Orsay. James McNeill Whistler, February 6–April 30, 1995.
Washington, D.C. National Gallery of Art. James McNeill Whistler, May 28–August 20, 1995.
Ohio. Cincinnati Art Museum. Museum within a Museum: Treasures from the Taft at the Cincinnati Art Museum, January 2002–February 2003 (during TMA renovation).
Paris. Musée du Louvre. American Paintings in France: An Exchange, June 14–September 18, 2006.
Edinburgh. National Gallery of Scotland. Impressionism & Scotland, July 19–October 12, 2008.
Giverny, France. Musée des Impressionnismes. Tintamarre ! Instruments de musique dans l'art, 1860–1910, March 24–July 2, 2017.
Cincinnati, Ohio. Taft Museum of Art. In a New Light: Treasures from the Taft, July 3, 2021–May 1, 2022.

At the Piano is widely considered James McNeill Whistler’s first masterpiece for its elegance and balance: both musician and listener seem entranced by the spell of music. Whistler’s niece Annie and his sister Deborah Haden posed for the painting not long after the death of Whistler’s father. Unlike most artists of his time, Whistler deliberately avoided outright portraiture or storytelling here. Instead, he sought “art for art’s sake,” believing that beauty—not moral messages—should be the aim of art.

More to the Story
The woman in this painting wears mourning dress. Etiquette in the 1800s prescribed what women wore after a loved one’s death. For up to a year, wearing black silk crepe was common. This stiff, scratchy fabric contained dyes that stained the skin and irritated the eyes and lungs. One medical journal noted that “in hot weather the mourning garb becomes a veritable instrument of torture.” Despite this, stores specialized in mourning attire and ladies’ magazines devoted columns to the latest trends in mourning fashion.

Created by the artist; purchased by John Phillip, London, 1860. Acquired by Francis Seymour Haden, Woodcote Manor, Hampshire, 1867. (Acquired by Alexander Reid, Glasgow, 1897). Acquired by John James Cowan, Wester Lea, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, 1897; (purchased by Agnew’s, London, May 24, 1899); purchased by Sir Edmund Davis, London, until 1939. (Acquired by Christie's, London); (purchased by M. Knoedler, London and New York, NY, July 7, 1939 (stock no. 99)). (Acquired by Scott and Fowles, New York, NY); purchased by William Tunstall Semple [1881-1962] and Anna Louise Taft Semple [1879-1961], Cincinnati, OH, January 1940; bequest to the Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts, Cincinnati, OH [1], 1962; transferred to the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, OH, September 1, 2006 [2].

Notes:

[1]. The Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts (CIFA) was formed by Charles Phelps and Anna Sinton Taft on March 22, 1927 as a non-profit corporation to stimulate the development of art and music in the City of Cincinnati and run the Taft Museum of Art, which opened in 1932. The Tafts offered $1 million for a permanent endowment fund, on the condition that the community raise $2.5 million in matching funds, which was achieved by December 3, 1928. [2]. Until August 31, 2006, the Museum was owned by CIFA, administered by CIFA’s Board of Trustees, and governed by the Taft Museum Board of Overseers. On September 1, 2006, the Museum legally separated from CIFA and began operations as its own incorporated 501(c)(3) entity. This separate incorporation led to the transfer to the separate entity after August 31, 2006 of all tangible assets comprising the Taft collection.

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