Titles

Only one title is known:

• 'Nocturne, in Blue and Silver' (1872, Dudley). 1

Description

A dark land-, sea- or river-scape with fog and water. Contemporary reviews do not offer conclusive observations that would allow us to identify the 'Nocturne in Blue and Silver'.

Nocturne: The Solent, Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art

Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Cremorne Lights, Tate Britain

Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water, Art Institute Of Chicago

Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach, Freer Gallery of Art

Three possible candidates are Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights [YMSM 115], Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach [YMSM 119], and Nocturne: The Solent [YMSM 071]. All three would have made a good pair with Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water [YMSM 117]. Nocturne: The Solent [YMSM 071] shows a location not far from Southampton, which is the site of Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water [YMSM 117].

However, both Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights [YMSM 115] and Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach [YMSM 119] match Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water [YMSM 117] almost exactly in size. If The Illustrated London News is correct in its identification of the site as 'the Thames at Battersea', these two Nocturnes may be the better candidates. 2

From a distance, Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights [YMSM 115] and Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water [YMSM 117] show a strikingly similar composition, which would explain one critic's impression that the two Nocturnes exhibited at 6th Winter Exhibition of Cabinet Pictures in Oil, Dudley Gallery, London, 1872 'represent the same part of the Thames under very different effects of light.' 3

Site

It probably showed the river Thames in London. The Illustrated London News described the site as 'the Thames at Battersea'. 4