Titles
Several possible titles have been suggested:
- 'Seroe more' (grey sea) (1921, Pertsev). 1
- 'The Sea Coast' (1969, Kroll). 2
- 'The Sea Coast' (1980, YMSM). 3
- 'The Sea Coast. Marine. Arrangement en gris et noir' (2006, State Tretyakow Gallery). 4
Since Whistler's original title is not known, 'The Sea Coast' is the preferred title.
Description
The Sea Coast, State Hermitage Museum
A beach scene in horizontal format. It is divided roughly into three horizontal bands: a pale grey cloudy sky, a rich green sea, with a fishing boat and nets on the shoreline at left, and a pale beige beach. There are several small figures, possibly working at rolling or repairing nets.
Site
Possibly painted in the popular fishing and tourist town of Étretat in the Seine-Maritime department of the Normandie region in north-western France.
Notes:
1: Pertsev, P. P., Shchukinskoe sobranie frantsuzskoi zhxvopisi, Moscow, 1921, p. 116.
2: Kroll 1969 [more] , pp. 109-10, repr. p. 110.
3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 274).
4: MacDonald, Margaret, 'James McNeill Whistler', Whistler and Russia, State Tretyakow Gallery, Moscow, 2006, pp. 16-57, at p. 47.
Last updated: 9th March 2020 by Margaret
