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

 

Nocturne

Nocturne has been dated about 1875/1877. 1

It is difficult to date, but the technique – the lack of imprimatura and the lack of paint runs – could argue for an early date. 2


                Nocturne, The Hunterian
Nocturne, The Hunterian

                Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso, Freer Gallery of Art
Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso, Freer Gallery of Art

                Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon, Venice, Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon, Venice, Boston Museum of Fine Arts

The composition is comparable to Whistler's Valparaiso nocturnes of 1866, such as Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay [YMSM 076] (which was probably completed in the late 1870s), and the technique of his Venetian Nocturnes of 1879/1880, such as Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon,Venice [YMSM 212]. A date in the late 1870s is most likely.

Notes:

1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 172).

2: Professor Joyce H. Townsend, Tate Britain, examination report, August 2017.

Last updated: 2nd November 2020 by Margaret