Nocturne

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Edition/State

  2, 1

• Label

  Nocturne is a view of Battersea from Lindsey Row. Whistler did not reverse the drawing, so the printed image is backwards, but many contemporary Londoners would have recognized the lighted clock tower of the Morgan Crucible Company, the factory smokestacks, the triangular profile of the slag heap, and the spire of Battersea Church. Whistler used broad washes and the cool tones of the paper to create a powerfully moody print that can hold its own with the painted nocturnes.

  Whistler lithographs are identified by "C" numbers as described in The Lithographs of James McNeill Whistler (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1998). This print is C8, second state of two.

• Provenance

  To 1905

  Thomas Way Sr. (1827-1915), London, or Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), London, to 1905 [1]

  From 1905 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Thomas Way Sr. or Thomas Robert Way in 1905 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Lithographs, pg. 2, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Thomas Way Sr. and his son, Thomas Robert Way, were lithographers who worked closely with Whistler on several of his projects. They helped with the printing of his etchings, as well as the printing of Whistler’s promotional materials. Both Thomas Way Sr. and Thomas Robert Way owned many Whistler works. Thomas Way Sr. acquired several of these works at the time of Whistler’s bankruptcy, and he passed some of them on to his son (see The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler, 1855-1903, ed. Margaret F. MacDonald, Patricia de Montfort and Nigel Thorp, On-line Edition, People, biographies of Thomas Way and Thomas Robert Way; http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/correspondence).

  Charles Lang Freer acquired many Whistler pieces from the Ways. However, museum records do not always specify whether it was the younger or elder Way who was the source of a particular object. Further, archival sources indicate that the junior Way sometimes acted on behalf of his father: whilst negotiating the sale of his own Whistler works to C.L. Freer, he would concurrently negotiate the sale of some of his father’s Whistler works to Freer. In cases where it is unclear whether it was the junior or senior Way who actually owned a piece acquired by C.L. Freer, the provenance record will simply state that the object was purchased from “Thomas Way Sr. or Thomas Robert Way.”

  [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

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

  The Texture of Night: James McNeill Whistler (June 6, 2009 to July 25, 2010)

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

  Centennial Exhibition, East Corridor (February 25, 1956 to July 10, 1958)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Prints (December 12, 1955 to February 25, 1956)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Etchings, Lithographs, and Drypoint (September 24, 1947 to April 11, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Prints, East Corridor (January 5, 1944 to January 8, 1947)

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Etchings and Lithographs (April 4, 1930 to January 20, 1944)

  Lithographs and Lithotints by Whistler (March 23, 1925 to March 24, 1930)

  Special Exhibition, Whistler Etchings and Lithographs (January 14, 1924 to February 18, 1924)

  American Paintings, Etchings, and Lithographs. J.A.McN. Whistler (May 2, 1923 to January 7, 1924)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Print

• 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

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Boats and boating, Art, Night, American Art

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Prints