Nocturne: Amsterdam in Winter

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  A nocturnal view of Amsterdam in winter with figures skating in the center and foreground, and a building and trees indicated in distance; signed with the butterfly at lower right.

• Signatures

  Black butterfly in lower right quadrant

• Paper/Support

  On cold-pressed, wove paper mounted overall to board. Two sets of graphite sight marks in the upper corners. Single sight mark in the lower left corner.

• Provenance

  To 1904

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

  From 1904 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from John James Cowan in 1904 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, pg. 19, 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)

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

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Paintings and Drawings (December 14, 1955 to February 25, 1956)

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

  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)

  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

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

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings