Titles
Several possible titles have been suggested:
- Possibly 'Nocturne, in Black and gold' (1876, Society of French Artists). 1
- 'Nocturne in Black and Gold. Entrance to Southampton water' (1882, Grosvenor). 2
- Possibly 'Nocturne. Black and Gold' (1892, Goupil). 3
- 'Southampton Harbor' (1897, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh). 4
- ' "Portsmouth [sic] Harbour", (Nocturne)' (1900, C. L. Freer). 5
- 'Southampton – Nocturne' (1901, Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo). 6
- 'Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water' (1980, YMSM). 7
'Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water' is the preferred title.
Description
Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water, Freer Gallery of Art
A very dark night scene, in horizontal format. It appears to show the prow of a boat, and a mast, looming in the foreground, possibly with the entrance to a harbour beyond.
Site
Southampton, a major port on the south coast of England, UK. Whistler painted another Nocturne of Southampton about 1871/1872 (Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water [YMSM 117]).
Notes:
1: 12th Exhibition, Society of French Artists, Deschamps Gallery, London, 1876 (cat. no. 150).
2: VI Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1882 (cat. no. 106).
3: Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 32).
4: Second Annual Exhibition, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1897 (cat. no. 237).
5: Freer to Whistler, 1 December [1900], GUW #01519.
6: Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901 (cat. no. 101).
Last updated: 6th February 2021 by Margaret
