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

 

Note en gris: Dordrecht

Titles

Only one title is known:

  • 'Note en gris: Dordrecht' (1887, Petit). 1
  • Possibly 'Grey note: A Rainy Day – Dordrecht' (1889, Wunderlich). 2

Description

Possibly showing the buildings and canals of the town of Dordrecht.

Site

Dordrecht, in the western Netherlands, is bounded by several rivers, the Oude Maas, Beneden Merwede, Nieuwe Merwede, Hollands Diep, and Dordtsche Kil, and in Whistler's time was a busy port.


                    Note in Rose and Silver – Dordrecht, Colby College Museum of Art
Note in Rose and Silver – Dordrecht, Colby College Museum of Art

                    Gold and grey – The Sunny Shower, Dordrecht, The Hunterian
Gold and grey – The Sunny Shower, Dordrecht, The Hunterian

Two of Whistler's paintings include the city in their title (this painting and Bleu et argent: Dordrecht [YMSM 294]), as do several watercolours, some identified (Dordrecht [M.0876], r.: Gold and Brown: Dordrecht; v.: Dordrecht [M.0968], A Little Red Note: Dordrecht [M.0969], Grey and Green - Dordrecht [M.0976], and the two reproduced above, Note in Rose and Silver - Dordrecht [M.0970], and Gold and grey - The Sunny Shower, Dordrecht [M.0973]). In addition several have not been located (Silver and Red: Dordrecht [M.0971], A silver note: Dordrecht [M.0972], Note en gris: Dordrecht [M.0974] and Dordrecht [M.1709]). The recurrence of grey and silver in the titles make it difficult to identify the painting exhibited at Petit's in 1887.

In addition Whistler etched small plates showing boats and canals in Dordrecht: Little Dordrecht [260] (G260), Barges, Dordrecht [262] (G262), and Dordrecht [259] (G259) in 1885 or 1886.

Notes:

1: Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 178).

2: “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 42).

Last updated: 8th April 2021 by Margaret