Portrait of Henry James

Artists

Dimensions

21 x 16.5 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Henry James, to; his sister Alice (1848-1892)[1]; reclaimed after her death by Henry James. After James’s death, his heirs sent “his most valuable property,” including the drawing to the U.S.; [2] James’s nephew Henry (Harry) (1879-1947); to his brother William (Billy) (1882-1961); William’s son John Sumner Runnells James (1914-1969); presumably sold by him. [3] [Victor D. Spark, New York] sold; to John D. Rockefeller, 1968, to; his daughter, Sandra Ferry (1935-2024), Boston; the Estate of Sandra Ferry, bequest; to Harvard Art Museums, 2025 [1] Letter from Henry James to William James, Sept. 10, 1886: “... I shall present (probably) [the drawing] to Alice when it is mounted.” (Edel, “Henry James Letters,” p. 132) [2] Anesko, p. 47. [3] Ibid.