Titles

Several possible titles have been suggested:

• Possibly 'Nocturne, in Blue and Silver' (1872, Dudley). 1
• Possibly 'Nocturne in blue and gold' (1875, Royal Pavilion Gallery, Brighton). 2
• Possibly 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold. No. 3' (1870s, Whistler). 3
• Possibly 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold' (1878,Grosvenor Gallery). 4
• 'Nocturne. Blue and Silver – Battersea Reach' (1892, Goupil). 5
• 'Nocturne. Bleu et argent. Battersea. – (Nocturne. Blue and Silver. Battersea Beach. [sic])' (1905, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts). 6

There was originally a label on the frame in Whistler's hand that read 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold. No. 3.' 7 This, confusingly, is the title under which Nocturne: Grey and Gold - Westminster Bridge [YMSM 145] was exhibited in 1875. It is possible that the frames could have been switched, although Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach [YMSM 119] is about 10 cm wider.

The possible changes of title make identifying the early exhibitions of this painting very hard to identify.

'Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Battersea Reach' is the accepted title, based on the 1892 Goupil title, with punctuation amended to conform with other titles.

Description

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

A night scene, in horizontal format. The viewer is looking across the river to warehouses and factories on the south bank of the Thames. Sailing barges with furled sails are moored at a jetty in the foreground at right.

Site

A similar view of the Battersea shore of the river Thames seen from Chelsea as in Nocturne: Battersea [YMSM 120].

Battersea Reach, looking across the Thames, Thomas Colville Fine Arts

The pen drawing, Battersea Reach, looking across the Thames, reproduced above, shows a similar view and may date from the same period.

A pastel, The Thames [M.0473], shows an almost identical view, and may have been a study for this painting. It is however in much brighter key colours than the oil.

The sailing barges are probably unloading coal and other goods at the jetty – possibly the Greaves' boatyard – below Whistler's Lindsey Row house in Chelsea, on the north shore of the Thames. The industrial buildings and chimneys of Battersea are seen on the south side of the river.