Winter Evening

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  Many contemporary art critics were perplexed by Whistler's innovative use of pastels. For example, the reviewer for the London Times thought that Whistler's drawings were "far more artistic and interesting" than most pastels, but pedantically insisted that they should not be described as pastels, since "in a true pastel the ground of the picture is entirely covered with the coloured chalk employed, this being generally obtained by making it rough like the surface of fine sand, the use of this being to enable the artist to blend the crude, powdery colour of his crayons, and thus give the soft gradations in light and shade and colour without any distinct outline."

  Quotations from "Mr. Whistler's Venice Pastels," Times (London),

  February 9, 1881.

• Provenance

  To 1917

  Mrs. Louisine Havemeyer (1855-1929), New York to 1917 [1]

  From 1917 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), given by Mrs. Louisine Havemeyer in 1917 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Accession List, Collections Management office, as well as Original Whistler List, pg. 16, 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 Venice: The Pastels (January 19 to June 15, 2003)

  James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art—Whistler and the Landscape (May 11, 1984 to February 5, 1985)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Mrs. Louisine Havemeyer (1855-1929) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Drawing

• Restrictions and Rights

  CC0 - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s, 1870s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Havemeyer, Louisine

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Winter, Night, American Art

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Drawings