Grey and Silver–Liverpool

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  A misty scene on the river Mersey; sail boats and other craft; signed with the butterfly at lower right.

• Signatures

  Brown butterfly in lower right corner.

• Paper/Support

  On cold-pressed, wove paper mounted overall to a 7-ply board. The paper is slightly smaller than the board.

• Provenance

  To 1889

  H. Wunderlich & Co., New York

  to 1889 [1]

  From 1889 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from H. Wunderlich & Co. in 1889 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Paintings, 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 Watercolor (May 18 to November 3, 2019)

  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: Artist and Patron (May 11, 1984 to January 17, 1985)

  Panama-Pacific International Exposition (February 20 to December 4, 1915)

  Kansas City Exposition (January 1912)

  Exposition des Oeuvres de James McNeill Whistler (May 1905)

  Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler (February 23 to March 22, 1904)

  Pan-American Exposition, Exhibition of Fine Arts (May 1 to November 2, 1901)

  "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (March 1889)

  Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture (1887)

  "Notes"—"Harmonies"—"Nocturnes" (May 1886)

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  H. Wunderlich & Co. (1874-1912) (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)

  This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1880s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, H. Wunderlich & Co.

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Water, Boats and boating, Art, Bone black, Zinc white, Rivers, Cerulean blue, Burnt umber, Mounting, Yellow ocher, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mars pigment, American Art, Raw sienna

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings