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

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Nocturne: Venice

Titles

Only one title has been suggested:

  • 'Nocturne: Venice' (1980, YMSM). 1

Description

It was described by Otto Bacher:

'a scene from a café near the Royal Gardens. ... The gondolas could be faintly seen in the darkness, the only light spots being the white-clothed gondoliers and the flickering lights and reflections.' 2

Site

A view of the lagoon from near the Royal Gardens.


                    Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon, Venice, Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston
Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon, Venice, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon,Venice [YMSM 212] may well show a similar view, although Bacher does not mention the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, which dominates that scene.

Comments

Whistler had practised memory training, remembering and recreating images, for many years, perhaps learning from Ignace-Henri-Jean-Théodore Fantin-Latour (1836-1904) and his teacher Horace Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1802-1897). See Nocturne: Chelsea [YMSM 235].

Notes:

1: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 217).

2: Bacher 1908 [more] , pp. 55-56.

Last updated: 18th March 2019 by Margaret