Provenance

• By 1905: Jacques Émile Blanche (1861-1942).
• 1920s: possible sold at Christie's, London.
• Date unknown: according to family records, it was probably acquired by Miss Dodge (dates unknown) – either Grace Hoadley Dodge (b. 1856) or Mary Melissa Dodge (b. 1861) – in London, and passed to Miss Dodge's brother-in-law, William Church Osborn (1862-1951), who had married Alice Clinton Hoadley Dodge (Mrs W. C. Osborn) (1865-1946), in 1886;
• 1951: bequeathed to W. C. Osborn's son, William H. Osborn (dates unknown);
• Date unknown: bequeathed to W. H. Osborn's widow, Mrs Kate Osborn (dates unknown).
• 2013: sold at auction, Christie's, New York, 5 December 2013 (lot 39) 'St Ives: The Beach'.
• By 2018: Gulf State Foundation Collection;
• 2019: art market, New York.

The painting's early and recent history is unclear. By 2018 it was owned by the Gulf State Foundation Collection and in the spring of 2019 it was on deposit temporarily at Christie's, New York.

Exhibitions

• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 78) as 'St. Ives. La plage. – (St. Ives. The Beach.)'.
• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 88) as 'St. Yves.[sic] The Beach'.

It was not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime. However, it was lent by the artist Jacques Émile Blanche (1861-1942) to the 1905 Whistler Memorial exhibitions in Paris and London.