Titles
Several possible titles have been suggested:
- 'A Nocturne in Snow and Silver’ (1879, Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts). 1
- 'Nocturne in Snow and Silver' (1881, Christie's). 2
- 'Nocturne Grey & Silver. Chelsea Embankment' (1892, Whistler). 3
- 'Grey & Silver Chelsea Embankment' (1892, D. C. Thomson). 4
- 'Nocturne. Grey and Silver – Chelsea Embankment – Winter' (1892, Goupil). 5
- 'Nocturne en gris et argent. Le quai de Chelsea. – (Nocturne. Grey and Silver. Chelsea Embankment.)' (1905, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris). 6
- 'Nocturne: Grey and Silver – Chelsea Embankment, Winter' (1980, YMSM). 7
'Nocturne: Grey and Silver – Chelsea Embankment, Winter' is based on the 1892 title, with punctuation changed to conform with other titles.
Description
Nocturne: Grey and Silver - Chelsea Embankment, Winter, Freer Gallery of Art
The view of a river flowing through a city, painted in vertical format. There is snow on the river bank at right, where several small boats are drawn up. The river swings in a broad curve, from the lower left corner towards the right edge, roughly halfway up the canvas, and then towards upper left. A pier, where barges with furled sails are moored, juts into the river in the middle distance.
Site
A view of Battersea Reach on the River Thames from Chelsea, London.
Notes:
1: 18th Exhibition of Works of Modern Artists, Glasgow, 1879 (cat. no. 419).
2: Christie's, London, 9 May 1881 (lot 140).
3: Whistler to D. C. Thomson, [4 January 1892], GUW #08214.
4: Thomson to Whistler, 8 February 1892, GUW #05682.
5: Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 1).
6: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 73).
Last updated: 21st April 2021 by Margaret
