The Bathers

Object Details

• Artist

  James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

• Description

  A broad sand beach, and water beyond; figures and bathing machines in shallow water; unsigned.

• Signatures

  Unsigned.

• Paper/Support

  On cold-pressed, wove paper mounted overall to board.

• Provenance

  To 1902

  Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), London, to 1902 [1]

  From 1902 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Henry Studdy Theobald in 1902 [2]

  From 1920

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

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Whistler List, Purchases from Thoebald, pg. 8, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. See also, Voucher No. 1, August 1902,

  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)

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

  Whistler Water Colors (January 7, 1924 to April 4, 1930)

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

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

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) (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, Theobald, Henry Studdy

• Place

  United States

• Topic

  Boats and boating, Art, Antwerp blue, Leitch's blue, Bone black, Zinc white, Beaches, Cadmium sulfide, Cerulean blue, Mounting, Yellow ocher, Charles Lang Freer collection, Mars pigment, American Art, Raw sienna, Seascape, Strontium chromate, Ocean, Prussian blue, Bathing, Cobalt blue, Emerald green, Raw umber

• Culture

  Americans

• Object Type

  Paintings