Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

 

YMSM 289
The White House

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1884/1885
Collection: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Accession Number: F1902.154a-b
Medium: oil
Support: wood
Size: 136 x 236 mm (5 3/8 x 9 1/4")
Signature: none
Inscription: none
Frame: replica Dowdeswell, American, 2004

The White House

Titles

Whistler's original title has not been identified. Only one title is known:

  • ‘The White House' (1910, New York). 1
  • ‘The White House' (1980, YMSM). 2

Description

The White House, Freer Gallery of Art
The White House, Freer Gallery of Art

A beach scene in horizontal format. In the foreground is a broad beach with a breakwater at left. A group of houses, including a white-washed cottage at right, is seen beyond the beach. The scattered clouds are touched with sunlight. A small sailing ship is seen in the sea beyond the breakwaters, and the masts of more ships to left of the buildings.

Site

St Ives, Cornwall.

The White House, Freer Gallery of Art
The White House, Freer Gallery of Art
Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, Freer Gallery of Art
Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, Freer Gallery of Art

The scene appears closely related to Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud [YMSM 271], but the sky is brighter and more sunny. It is possible that the titles were mixed up.

Notes:

1: Loan Exhibition of Pictures by T. W. Dewing, A. H. Thayer, D. W. Tryon, J. A. McN. Whistler, Montross Gallery, New York, 1910 (cat. no. 20)

2: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 289)

Last updated: 24th October 2020 by Margaret