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

 

Cremorne Gardens, No. 2

Cremorne Gardens, No. 2 dates from between about 1875 and 1877. 1


                Cremorne Gardens, No. 2, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Cremorne Gardens, No. 2, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY

On 18 September 1875, Whistler's mother Anna Matilda Whistler (1804-1881) mentioned Whistler's 'Moonlight pictures' including 'one lately finished of Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea.' 2

Cremorne, No. 1 [YMSM 163], Cremorne Gardens, No. 2 [YMSM 164] and Nocturne: Cremorne Gardens, No. 3 [YMSM 165] are very close in date, technique and treatment of the subject.

The costume of the women in Cremorne Gardens, No. 2 [YMSM 164] indicates a date in the late 1870s, possibly shortly before Cremorne Gardens in Chelsea was closed to the public in 1877. 3

Notes:

1: Dated 'about 1872/7' in YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 164).

2: Letter to J. H. Gamble, GUW #06555.

3: MacDonald 2003 [more] , pp. 138-39.

Last updated: 23rd October 2020 by Margaret