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

 

YMSM 521
The Shore, Pourville

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1899/1900
Collection: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Accession Number: WA1962.17.27
Medium: oil
Support: wood
Size: 140 x 232 mm (5 1/2 x 9 1/8")
Signature: butterfly
Inscription: none

The Shore, Pourville

Titles

Whistler's original title is not known. Suggested titles are as follows:

  • 'The Beach, Pourville' (1955, Colnaghi). 1
  • ‘The Shore, Pourville’ (1960, Arts Council). 2
  • 'The Shore, Pourville' (1980, YMSM). 3

'The Shore, Pourville' is the preferred title.

Description

The Shore, Pourville, Ashmolean Museum
The Shore, Pourville, Ashmolean Museum

A view of the sea from a beach, in horizontal format. Two figures stand on the wet grey/beige beach at left, and a smaller figure, more or less a smudge, to their right at the water's edge. The green sea is rough, with creamy white breakers. The sky is pale blue and turquoise with scattered fluffy white and lilac/grey clouds.

Site

Pourville on the coast of France.

Notes:

1: Record of purchase, May 1955, Colnaghi A3260, note by Arthur Driver, GUL WPP files.

2: Young, A. McLaren, James McNeill Whistler, Arts Council Gallery, London, and Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1960 (cat. no. 75).

3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 521).

Last updated: 15th December 2020 by Margaret