Variations in Pink and Grey: Chelsea

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  Like the prints in Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo, this painting records a scene from everyday life in a modern city. Perhaps inspired by the vantage point of his second-story window, Whistler adopted the bird's-eye perspective typical of Hiroshige prints, in which distant objects appear high in the composition. The artist's view in 1872 would have encompassed the construction of the Chelsea Embankment, an enormous enterprise to reclaim acres of mud from the river and build massive, granite-faced walls and landing stages along the Thames; Whistler incorporated the construction fence and a newly planted sapling in his composition.

• Provenance

  To 1902

  John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh, Scotland, to 1902 [1]

  From 1902 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John James Cowan in December 1902 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 5, 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: Streetscapes, Urban Change (November 18, 2023 to May 4, 2024)

  An American in London: Whistler and the Thames (May 3 to August 17, 2014)

  Freer & Whistler: Points of Contact (February 23, 2008 to January 3, 2016)

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

  Beyond the Legacy--Anniversary Acquisitions of the Freer Gallery of Art (October 11, 1998 to April 11, 1999)

  Whistler & Japan (May 14, 1995 to January 1, 1996)

  American Art - James McNeill Whistler (May 9, 1993 to June 30, 1997)

  Arrangement in Yellow and Gold: Paintings by James McNeill Whistler (March 14, 1986 to April 1, 1987)

  American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler 1834-1903 (February 6, 1985 to March 4, 1986)

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

  American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler 1834-1903 (September 16, 1981 to March 26, 1984)

  American Paintings: James McNeill Whistler (November 11, 1976 to March 18, 1981)

  Paintings by James McNeill Whistler (August 1, 1974 to December 5, 1975)

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

  Whistler Paintings (September 8, 1961 to October 15, 1969)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 10 and 11 (February 25, 1956 to November 3, 1959)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Oil Paintings, Gallery 3, 1955 (December 16, 1955 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Works of Whistler (September 22, 1947 to April 11, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, American Oil Paintings, Gallery 3, 1947 (September 25, 1947 to April 12, 1955)

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Oil Paintings (February 12, 1944 to May 10, 1945)

  Untitled Exhibition, American Oil Paintings (May 1, 1933 to February 6, 1944)

  Whistler Landscapes, Oil (January 20, 1928 to May 1, 1933)

  Whistler Oils Exhibition (January 8, 1925 to January 20, 1928)

  American Paintings by J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 8, 1925)

  American Paintings, J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to February 12, 1944)

  Exhibition of Paintings by T.W. Dewing, A.H. Thayer, D.W. Tryon, J.A.McNeill Whistler (February 10 to 26, 1910)

  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)

  Nocturnes, Marines and Chevalet Pieces (March through April, 1892)

• Previous custodian or owner

  John James Cowan (1846-1936) (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.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1870s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Cowan, John James

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Water, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Store front, Rivers

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings