Alice Butt

This 1895 portrait of Alice Butt by James McNeill Whistler hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Little is known about this painting's subject, whom Whistler identified as “a little child called ‘Alice Butt’ —charming— quite Italian in type.” Set against a red background, Alice Butt is noteworthy for her disheveled hair and full, red lips; she looks directly at the viewer.

In the 1890s, Whistler often toured London's poorest neighborhoods in search of engaging subjects to paint. He was particularly drawn to young children, whose innocent faces and tattered clothing appealed to the artist's sense of the picturesque. The result was a series of full-face bust studies of young street children, of which Alice Butt —a vivid and adeptly painted portrait— is an outstanding example.

Until the publication of the Whistler catalogue raisonné in 1980, this painting was identified only as “Head of a Girl.” The authors determined that it was one of two nearly identical portraits of the same sitter that had both been stolen from Whistler's Paris studio in the late 1890s; they speculated that the other, more spontaneously executed portrait may have been a preparatory study for this painting. Whistler eventually recovered the paintings in 1901 and they remained in his studio until his death two years later. -- NGA

This painting was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Whistler claimed that the painting was stolen from his studio in 1896. He wrote to art collector John James Cowan,  that:

“Now the head you have just sent - the large one - is a study I painted in Chelsea - a little child called "Alice Butt." - charming - quite Italian in type - I had it, with scores of others, in my studio in Paris - It has not only been stolen, but it has been painted upon! - that is, cleaned up, as who should say, and put in selling order by the artist of the people who are carrying on this excellent business! 'Our Artist' I suppose they call him - kept on the premises, and, I must say, not without a certain sense of respectful appreciation on his part! as I will show you when you come up to town. The little head, stolen and treated in the same way - very much repainted - !!! –” -- Whistler to Cowan, July 2-4, 1901.

It was, according to the University of Glasgow's Catalogue Raisonné sold to Cowan by Alexander Reid in April 1900.  “Reid then gave Cowan the impression that the former owner was a friend of Whistler who had bought the portrait from the artist and did not want Whistler to know he had sold it.”  It  was returned by Cowan to Whistler on June 30, 1901. It was returned to Cowan by Whistler's executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip, in about April of 1904. (Whistler had died on July 17, 1903). 

Another earlier portrait of Alice believed to be a study for the portrait above belongs to a private collection. The Glasgow University library has this photo:

Alice Butt - 1896/1898 

The portrait can be seen in the upper left of this T. E. Mott photo of a 1904 exhibition in Boston.

Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston, 1904

(University of Glasgow)