Correspondence

The University of Glasgow holds the world’s largest single collection of Whistler letters. These include letters to him, from him and about him. They date from when he was an art student in Paris in 1855 until his death in 1903. Many were gifted to the University by Whistler’s sister-in-law Rosalind Birnie Philip [link – Key figures].

The University’s Centre for Whistler Studies has been working on a complete on-line edition of Whistler’s correspondence. Over 10,000 letters are included in this project. It is an extremely useful tool for researchers as it gives them a glimpse into Whistler’s private life, as well as providing information about Whistler’s relations with his family, artists, art critics, models, patrons and art dealers.

Included in Whistler’s on-line correspondence are dinner invitations, telegrams, legal documents, love letters, business letters and family letters. Some of Whistler’s letters are serious in tone and some are funny. His letters to his wife Beatrix [link – Key figures] are tender and affectionate, and those to his mother dutiful, while his letters to art critics are often cutting and sarcastic and those to the press are manipulative. Some letters are formal, others are casual scribbles. Some letters are of special interest because they contain drawings by Whistler or his views on art.