Provenance

• 1886: sold by Whistler to Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924), Boston;
• 1924: bequeathed by her to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

In 1886 the price was estimated by Messrs Dowdeswell at £50 but it was raised to £100 by Whistler. 1

It was sold by Whistler to Mrs J. L. Gardner on 30 October 1886. 2

Exhibitions

• 1886: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 49) as 'Blue and orange: Sweet Shop'.

The Saturday Review, 22 May 1886, compared this painting with Arrangement in Red and Black [YMSM 346] and stated that they 'are painted in lower, richer, and fuller colours than most, and are pushed further, for which they are none the worse.' 3 The Globe on 14 May 1886 grouped it with White and Grey: La Cour de l'hôtel, Dieppe [YMSM 325] as showing '[Whistler's] skill in rapidly recording the aspect of a scene, and his fine sense of colour'.