Provenance

• 1883/1884: probably `a little evening of Erith - smoky "lurid" sky' which Whistler thought 'of no importance' and gave away, with Grey and silver - Pier, Southend [M.0890];
• 1884: bought from an old lady by Messrs Dowdeswell, London dealers, and probably returned to Whistler;
• 1884/1885: probably boughtthrough Dowdeswells by Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934), London;
• 1902: bought in June by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 884).

Exhibitions

• 1884: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 14) as 'Erith – Evening'.
• 1887: possibly Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 182) as 'Note en argent: Erith sur Tamise'.

By the terms of Freer's will, this work cannot be lent to other venues.