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

 

M.0307
Sketch of 'Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz'

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1862
Collection: Library of Congress, Washington, DC
Accession Number: E. R. & J. Pennell Collection
Medium: pen and brown ink
Support: cream laid paper
Size: 8 7/16" x 10 5/8" (215 x 270 mm)
Signature: letter signed 'Jim Whistler'
Inscription: 'Matelot / espagnol / en rouge chaloupe / en danger / dans les brisants rochers pecheur / femmes / Ciel - soir mer foncée / presque noir des brisants qui / se suivent de-puis le fond / jusqu'au premier plan', in letter

Sketch of 'Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz'

Composition

Sketch of 'Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz', Library of Congress
Sketch of 'Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz', Library of Congress
Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz, Hill-Stead Museum, CO.
Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz, Hill-Stead Museum, CO.

Whistler's sketch shows numerous figures, which were eliminated in the final version of Blue and Silver: Blue Wave, Biarritz [YMSM 041] (Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut), although there are traces of the man standing on the rock.

Last updated: 9th March 2021 by Margaret