The Angry Sea

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  The Angry Sea is one of the sparest and most abstract of Whistler's small oils. When Whistler exhibited it at the Dowdeswells' gallery in 1884, unsympathetic reviewers complained that paintings like this were mere daubs, dismissing such efforts as unfinished sketches not fit for public display. The fashion writer for the Court Circular damned The Angry Sea with ironic praise, noting that "this wonderful artist uses frames of greenish gold wherever the picture requires such a setting. A strip of angry grey-green sea, framed in green gold, against dull pink background [the color of the gallery walls] is an exquisite arrangement of colour."

  Quotation from "Causerie," Court Circular, May 24, 1884.

• Provenance

  To 1904

  John James Cowan (1846-1936), Edinburgh, Scotland, to 1904 [1]

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John James Cowan, through William Marchant and Co, London, in June 1904 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 12, 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

  Small Masterpieces: Whistler Paintings from the 1880s (April 2, 2005 to November 11, 2008)

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

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

  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)

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

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

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

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

  Inaugural Loan Collection of Paintings (May 31 to July 1, 1905)

  78th Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture (Spring or Autumn of 1904)

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

• 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)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Cowan, John James

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Water, Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, American Art, Ocean

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings