Whistler studies allocated to The Fitzwilliam

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A group of three pastels, among James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s (1834-1903) finest and most complete works on paper, have been accepted by H.M. Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

The drawings are studies in pastel and include one preparatory drawing for the portrait of Miss Cicely Alexander, one of Whistler's most iconic works; the oil Harmony in Grey and Green: Miss Cicely Alexander, 1872, a masterpiece that now hangs in the Tate.

All three studies were aquired by Whistler's leading patron, the banker, William Cleverly Alexander (1840 - 1909) and have remained in the family ever since. Click here for more information.