Blue and Silver: Trouville dates from Whistler's stay in Trouville with his partner Joanna Hiffernan (b. ca 1843-d.1886) and the painter Jean-Désiré-Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), probably in October and November 1865.

Blue and Silver: Trouville, Freer Gallery of Art

On 26 October 1865 Whistler wrote from the Hotel du Bras d'Or, Trouville, Calvados, 'I am finishing some important pictures which will keep me here until about the 10th of Nov … My pictures I think you will like very much - The Sea is splendid at this moment but I am anxious to get back.' 1

Whistler painted several seascapes on the coast: Harmony in Blue and Silver: Trouville [YMSM 064], Sea and Rain [YMSM 065], Blue and Silver: Trouville , Crepuscule in Opal: Trouville [YMSM 067], Green and Grey. Channel [YMSM 069], and Trouville [YMSM 070].