Nocturne: Grey and Gold–Canal, Holland

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  A night view on both sides of the canal, buildings with lighted windows which reflect in the water; two figures in left foreground; signed with the butterfly at lower right.

• Signatures

  Gray butterfly in lower right corner

• Paper/Support

  On cold-pressed, wove paper. Graphite sight marks in all four corners.

• Provenance

  To 1902

  Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), London, to 1902 [1]

  From 1902 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Henry Studdy Theobald in 1902 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Purchases from Thoebald, pg. 5, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 1, August 1902,

  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)

  The Texture of Night: James McNeill Whistler (June 6, 2009 to July 25, 2010)

  Mr. Whistler's Galleries: Avant-garde in Victorian London, 1883 (November 20, 2003 to April 4, 2004)

  James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and Modern Life (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)

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

  Whistler Pastels and Water Colors (July 1 to July 31, 1974)

  Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)

  Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler (February 23 to March 22, 1904)

  "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (March 1889)

  Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture (1887)

  Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures, and Photography (1884)

  "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (May 1884)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Theobald, Henry Studdy

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Water, Crop marks, Art, Iron oxide red, Bone black, Zinc white, Cadmium sulfide, Cerulean blue, Yellow ocher, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mars pigment, American Art, Raw sienna, Prussian blue, Cobalt blue, Raw umber, Burnt sienna

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings