Provenance

• 1894: sold by Whistler to John A. Lynch (1853-1938) , Chicago;
• 1898: bequeathed to his wife, Clara Margaret Schmall Lynch (1870-1954);
• 1955: given by Clara Margaret Lynch in memory of John A. Lynch to the Art Institute of Chicago.

In January 1894 Whistler wrote to Algernon Graves (1845-1922):

'At the present moment I have in the Grafton Gallery three sea pieces - quite new - fresh and beautiful - I want four hundred apiece for them - Suppose you buy one and send me a cheque for two hundred - and deduct the other two hundred from your account.' 1

Whistler also urged David Croal Thomson (1855-1930) to go to the Grafton Gallery and see 'the two sea pieces that I showed you in their unvarnished and comparatively undressed state in the Studio - I hope you will like them - I do!!' 2 Later he asked Thomson if he wanted to buy them. 3 Meanwhile, not forgetting his American art dealers, he tempted Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932):

'I have two beautiful new sea pieces in the Grafton Gallery of the size of some of those you have seen in the Salon - 400 gs. each - I suppose you don't want to speculate!' 4

When it was sold, Whistler wrote on the verso: 'Exhibited in salon of the Champ de Mars. 1894 & bought in my Studio, Paris in October of that year by John A. Lynch, of Chicago.' A. J. Eddy reported to Whistler, 'Mr Lynch has his marine well hung and especially lighted at night. It is a superb thing for him and easily dwarfs the other pictures he purchased.' 5 And later, he wrote, 'Mr Lynch ... finds great delight in the marine. I was down to see it the other evening - it is a beautiful thing - beautiful in its simplicity and truthfulness.' 6 On Lynch's death, 2 October 1938, the painting passed to his wife, Mrs Clara Margaret Lynch, and was given in memory of her husband to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Exhibitions

• 1894: Fair Women, Grafton Galleries, London, 1894 (cat. no. 56) as 'Violet and Silver – A Deep Sea'.
• 1894: Exposition Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Champ de Mars, Paris, 1894 (cat. no. 1181).
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 33) as 'Violet and Silver – "Deep Sea" '.

The painting Violet and Silver: A Deep Sea and its companion seapieces, Dark Blue and Silver [YMSM 412] and Violet and Blue: Among the Rollers [YMSM 413], was admired in 1894, when it was shown, incongruously, with the Fair Women at the Grafton Gallery. 'They have that splendid distinction of high art which draws you from the other side of the room,' commented the Pall Mall Gazette. 7 By February of the same year, The Sketch mentioned Dark Blue and Silver and Violet and Silver: A Deep Sea as being on show at the Fine Art Society, but this may have been a mistake. 8

Whistler described his exhibits at the Grafton as 'three sea pieces - quite new - fresh and beautiful.' 9 It was listed by the artist among paintings to be sent to Antwerp in April 1894 as 'Deep Sea Silv[er]-Viol[e]t', but not sent. 10