Blue and Silver–Choppy Channel

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  A nearly abstract view of the rough sea, signed with the butterfly at lower left.

• Signatures

  Green butterfly in lower left corner; butterfly on verso of board in black ink

• Inscriptions

  Verso: 'Blue & Silver' / The Chopping Channel' / Butterfly signature

• Paper/Support

  On cold-pressed, wove paper mounted overall to board. The paper support is mounted on top of a manufactured board that already had a facing paper.

• Provenance

  1899

  Goupil et Cie, London 1899 [1]

  From 1899 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Goupil et Cie, London in 1899 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note, Object file. Also see Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 17, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Whistler in Watercolor (May 18 to November 3, 2019)

  James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Landscape (May 11, 1984 to February 5, 1985)

  James McNeill Whistler Pastels, Etchings, Paintings, Watercolors (November 11, 1976 to June 24, 1977)

  Whistler—Landscapes and Seascapes (October 14, 1969 to September 25, 1971)

  Pictures, Drawings, Bronzes, Pottery, Antique Furniture, Decorative Metal Work (1898)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Goupil et Cie (1829-1919) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s, 1890s

• Name

  Goupil et Cie, Freer, Charles Lang

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Art, Iron oxide red, Bone black, Zinc white, Mounting, Yellow ocher, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mars pigment, American Art, Raw sienna, Ocean, Prussian blue, Emerald green, Indigo, Raw umber, Burnt sienna

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings