Titles
Whistler's original title is not known. Suggested titles are as follows:
- ' "Vert et Gris" (Dieppe)' (1904, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts). 1
- 'Vert et Gris: A Shop, Dieppe' (1915, Colnaghi). 2
- 'Green and Gold – A Shop in Calais' (1935, Glasgow University). 3
- 'Green and Gold: A Shop in Calais' (1980, YMSM). 4
'Green and Gold: A Shop in Calais' is the preferred title.
Description
Green and Gold: A Shop in Calais, The Hunterian
A small shop front, depicted in vertical format. On the ground floor, at left is a window. To right of centre is a dark doorway with a green quadrilateral panel across it (rather like the swing-door on a saloon), and to right of this there is a narrow green full-length door, shutter or panel. On the floor above, at left is a large open window with white curtains; it has a slightly arched lunette above, and there are flowers on the narrow balcony. The wall to right of this window is painted dark yellow.
Site
The town of Calais, a busy port and ferry terminal on the north French coast overlooking the Strait of Dover.
Comments
This is a rare example in Whistler's work of a totally unpeopled street scene.
Notes:
1: Ouvrages de Peintures, Sculpture, Dessin, Gravure, Architecture et Objets d'Art, 14th exhibition, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1904 (cat. no. 1316).
2: Loan Exhibition of Works by James McNeill Whistler to aid the Professional Classes War Relief Council, Messrs Colnaghi, London, 1915 (cat. no. 26).
3: James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1935 (cat. no. 6).
Last updated: 22nd October 2020 by Margaret
