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

 

YMSM 271
Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1884
Collection: Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Accession Number: F1904.314a-c
Medium: oil
Support: wood
Size: 124 x 217 mm (4 7/8 x 8 1/2")
Signature: possibly a butterfly l.r.
Inscription: none
Frame: Replica Dowdeswell, American, W. Lewin, 2004

Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud

Technique

Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, Freer Gallery of Art
Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, Freer Gallery of Art

It is painted thinly, with jerky, almost dry brushwork, over a grey ground. Some angular scratches in the upper left corner suggest that there may have originally been another sketch underneath.

Conservation History

There are some signs of abrasion, particularly at the edges. According to Freer Gallery of Art files, it was cleaned and resurfaced in 1921, resurfaced in 1931, cleaned and varnished in 1937, resurfaced in 1938, cleaned and surfaced in 1951.

Frame

Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, frame
Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, frame
Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, Freer Gallery of Art
Note in Blue and Opal: The Sun Cloud, Freer Gallery of Art

A replica Dowdeswell frame, American, made by W. Lewin, 2004. 1

Notes:

1: Dr S. L. Parkerson Day, Report on frames, 2017; see also Parkerson 2007 [more] .

Last updated: 14th December 2020 by Margaret