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

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The Seashore

Titles

Suggested titles include :

  • 'The Seashore' (1905, ISSPG). 1
  • 'Green and Grey' (1918, Christie's). 2
  • 'Green and Grey: the Seashore' (1919, D. C. Thomson). 3
  • 'Green and Grey: The Seashore' (1970, Sotheby's). 4
  • 'The Seashore' (1980, YMSM). 5

Whistler's original title is not known. Later titles suggest a 'Whistlerian' title but the current authors agree with the 1980 catalogue that 'The Seashore', the original published title of 1905, is preferable.

Description


                    The Seashore, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
The Seashore, Minneapolis Institute of Arts

A seascape in horizontal format, with three women walking along the shoreline, and several small rowing-boats and sailboats – possibly fishing boats – moored in the water. The sea is pale green, the sky an even paler grey.

Site

Possibly Dieppe on the French coast, a busy port and tourist destination.

Notes:

1: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 104).

2: Christie's, London, 1 March 1918 (lot 164).

3: Thomson 1919 [more] .

4: Sotheby's, London, 22 April 1970 (lot 204).

5: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 297).

Last updated: 13th October 2020 by Margaret