Provenance

• 1883/1884: probably given away by the artist, with Erith - Evening [M.0884];
• 1884: bought from an old lady by Messrs Dowdeswell, London dealers, and probably returned to Whistler;
• 1884/1886: bought through Messrs Dowdeswell by Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934) ;
• 1902: bought in June by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) , Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 890).

Exhibitions

• 1884: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 62) as 'Grey and silver – Pier, Southend'.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 135) as 'Grey and Silver. Pier. Southend'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 109) as 'Grey and Silver. Pier. Southend'.

Edward William Godwin (1833-1886) praised the 'precision and dexterity' of this watercolour. 1