Opal Beach

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  Several figures scattered along a broad beach; the sea in the distance; unsigned.

• Signatures

  Unsigned.

• 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

  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. 8, 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)

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Watercolors, Oil Paintings, and Pastels (January 20, 1944 to October 13, 1947)

  Whistler Pastels and Drawings, Re-arranged and some additions (January 7, 1924 to January 20, 1944)

  Whistler Water Colors (January 7, 1924 to April 4, 1930)

  American Paintings, Pastels, and Water Colors, and Drawings. J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 7, 1924)

  Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)

  "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)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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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, Art, Bone black, Zinc white, Cerulean blue, Vermilion, Mounting, Yellow ocher, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mars pigment, Ultramarine, American Art, Raw sienna, Ocean, Prussian blue, Cobalt blue

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings