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

 

YMSM 120
Nocturne: Battersea

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1872/1875
Collection: Private Collection
Accession Number: none
Medium: oil
Support: canvas
Size: 49.5 x 106.5 cm (20 x 42 1/2")
Signature: none
Inscription: none
Frame: possibly an F. H. Grau frame

Nocturne: Battersea

Titles

One title is known, with slight variations:

  • "Battersea Nocturne" (1900, Whistler). 1
  • 'Nocturne, Battersea' (1904, Copley Society, Boston) 2
  • 'Nocturne: Battersea' (1980, YMSM). 3

'Nocturne: Battersea' is the preferred title.

Description

Nocturne: Battersea, Private Collection
Nocturne: Battersea, Private Collection

A nocturnal river scene in horizontal format: five barges with furled sails are moored by a jetty that sticks out at a slight diagonal from near right to further away at left. There are buildings on the far side of the river, which recedes into the distance at right.

Site

This is one of several views of Battersea Reach from Chelsea Wharf, near Whistler's house in London (see. for instance, Grey and Silver: Old Battersea Reach [YMSM 046], Nocturne in Blue and Silver [YMSM 113], and Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach [YMSM 119]).

Notes:

1: Whistler to E. G. Kennedy, 12 July 1900, GUW #09810.

2: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 60).

3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 120).

Last updated: 23rd October 2020 by Margaret