Provenance

• Unknown.

Exhibitions

• 1887: Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 181) as 'Nocturne en gris et or'.

Identifying the picture is impossible although there are several possible candidates. Unidentified nocturnes with a similar title include Nocturne in Grey and Gold [YMSM 116], which was exhibited by Whistler in 1874, and Nocturne in Grey and Gold [YMSM 155], which was probably not available for exhibition in 1887. The early history of Nocturne: Westminster - Grey and Gold [YMSM 144] is unknown, so it is another possible candidate.

Perhaps the most likely is the unidentified Nocturne in Grey and Gold: Chelsea Fish Shop [YMSM 336], which was shown in Whistler's one-man show of 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886, and could well have been available for exhibition in Paris in the following year.

Nocturne: Grey and Gold - Chelsea Snow [YMSM 174] was exhibited by Whistler in Munich in 1888, but there is no mention in extant correspondence with the owner, Alfred Chapman (1839-1917) of it having been in Paris the previous year. It is even less likely that Chapman's Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water [YMSM 117], which was shown at different times as either blue or grey and gold, was this painting.

The Wyndham's Nocturne: Grey and Gold - Westminster Bridge [YMSM 145] was shown at Whistler's retrospective in 1892 but there is no record of it having been lent for the earlier Paris show.