Nocturne: Cremorne Gardens, No. 3

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Label

  Whistler was attracted to the nocturnal visual effects of Cremorne Gardens, a popular, if somewhat seedy, amusement park only a few blocks from his residence in the Chelsea section of London. Two figures, reduced to quick strokes of black and white paint, seem to glide away from a pool of light in the right foreground. Their retreat into shadow hints at Cremorne’s reputation as an illicit trysting spot. The implied narrative, however, is literally overshadowed by Whistler’s interest in aesthetic, rather than romantic, relationships. Nearly abstract patterns of lighter pigment, thinned to a runny consistency that Whistler called “sauce,” punctuate the enveloping darkness. The layering of light and dark rectangles is a compositional device that Whistler repeated in some of the works to the right, most notably in the Amsterdam watercolors and in the Venice etching "Nocturne: Furnace."

• Provenance

  To 1919

  Percy Moore Turner (circa 1877-1950), London and Paris, to 1919 [1]

  1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Percy Moore Turner in 1919 [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, Paintings, pg. 15c, 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: Streetscapes, Urban Change (November 18, 2023 to May 4, 2024)

  Whistler in Watercolor (May 18 to November 3, 2019)

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

  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)

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

  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 Modern Life (May 11, 1984 to December 16, 1984)

  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)

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

  Untitled Exhibition, Whistler Oil Paintings (February 12, 1944 to May 10, 1945)

  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)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Percy Moore Turner (ca. 1877-1950) (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  United States

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s, 1860s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Turner, Percy Moore

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Night, American Art, Store front

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings