Haviland & Co., Limoges, France Eliza Baylies Wheaton’s Tea Set Pour Clark Adams & Clark Boston ca. 1891-1899 Porcelain, hand painted Gift of Robert Wolff Permanent Collection 1980: Donated by Lucy Howe Wild, Class of 1923, daughter of Alice Johanna Howard and Alfred Wheaton Wild, Laban Morey Wheaton’s cousin and business manager to both Laban Morey and Eliza Baylies Wheaton. -Podcast written and recorded by Gwyneth Cook, Class of 2013
James McNeill Whistler La Marchande de Moutarde (The Mustard Shopkeeper) 1858 Ink on paper (drypoint and etching)
On extended loan courtesy of Mrs. Joanna Salvo, Class of 1981 Permanent Collection 1981: Joanna Salvo graduates. James McNeill Whistler was one of the most famous American artists of the 19th century. This etching, completed the year before he left Paris for London, is based on a drawing Whistler completed in Cologne during a walking tour of France and the Rhineland. The print exemplifies his whimsical approach to etching, as well as the mastery he possessed over line and form, especially in the expressive lines of the doorframe, and in the delicate treatment of the young girl’s face. La Marchande de Moutarde is considered one of Whistler’s most important early works. Exhibited beside one of his portrait etchings at the Paris Salon of 1859, scholars considered the print to be his artistic introduction to the public. Joanna Salvo, a Continuing Education (non-traditional) student who graduated from Wheaton with an Art History degree in 1981, purchased this etching and later loaned it to the Permanent Collection. Salvo attended Wheaton as a single mother after the untimely death of her husband, and made a personal commitment to learn all that she could. She continued her education at Brown University, where she earned a Master’s degree, and wrote her thesis on Whistler. Salvo has a reputation for possessing a keen eye for fine art: several of her loans to the collection are among the works most used for teaching and student research. This piece, which was purchased at auction, appealed to Salvo because of its significant history and her strong interest in Whistler’s work and life. While she has owned various Whistler pieces during her years as a collector, this particular piece remains one of her favorites.
-Written by Sarah Estrela, Class of 2015
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