Nocturne: Blue and Silver--Battersea Reach

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  Following a suggestion by his patron Frederick Richards Leyland, Whistler used the musical term “Nocturne” to title more than thirty paintings of London after dark that he created in the 1870s. This one depicts barges moored to unload coal and other goods along the Chelsea docks; the chimneys and factories of Battersea appear in ghostly outline on the opposite shore. Whistler applied a brown underpaint to the coarsely woven canvas before covering the surface with thin layers of runny blue pigment. Later, he reworked the picture, and it is now more grey than blue, with touches of bright color to define the artificial urban light and its reflections on the river.

• Provenance

  To 1902

  William George Rawlinson (1812-1902), London, to 1902 [1]

  From 1902 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from William George Rawlinson, through William Marchant and Co., London, in April 1902 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] Undated folder sheet note, Object file. See also Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 3, 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

  A Perfect Harmony (October 14, 2017 to October 8, 2023)

  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)

  Whistler and the Thames (December 17, 2000 to June 17, 2001)

  Art for Art's Sake (July 23, 1997 to January 24, 2008)

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

  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 the Landscape (May 11, 1984 to February 5, 1985)

  American Paintings (March 20, 1981 to September 24, 1981)

  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)

  American Paintings (June 9, 1960 to September 8, 1961)

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

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

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

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

  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)

  Untitled Exhibition, University of Michigan Club, Detroit, 1914 (1914)

  A Selection of Art Objects from the Freer Collection Exhibited in the New Building of the National Museum (April 15 to June 15, 1912)

  Paintings in Oil and Pastel by James A. McNeill Whistler (March 15 to May 31, 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)

  Comparative Exhibition of Native and Foreign Art at the Galleries of the American Fine Arts Society (November 15 to December 11, 1904)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  William George Rawlinson (1840-1928) (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

  1870s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Rawlinson, William George

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Water, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Night, American Art, Rivers, Nocturne

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings