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

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Rue des Buttes Montmartre

Titles

The known title varies in punctuation, as follows:

  • 'Rue des Buttes, Montmartre' (1960, Arts Council). 1
  • 'Rue des Buttes (Montmartre)' (2018, Worcester Art Museum). 2

The name of the street, and therefore the preferred title of this painting, is 'Rue des Buttes Montmartre'. There is no comma or bracket before Montmartre.

Description


                    Rue des Buttes Montmartre, Worcester Art Museum
Rue des Buttes Montmartre, Worcester Art Museum

A street scene in horizontal format. At left is a high garden wall and gate, with bare, ragged trees behind. A figure stands near the gate, beside the road, and further up the street, at left, is a lamp standard with hanging lantern. The unpaved street runs uphill, in the centre. It is bounded at right by buildings and a wall. Sunlight catches a house at the top of the hill, and also illuminates the foreground.

Site

Rue des Buttes Montmartre, near the Porte de Saint-Ouen, Paris 93400 (the street was named 'Rue des Buttes, Montmartre' in earlier publications, but there is no such place). At that time the hill of Montmartre was more or less in the country. This particular street is away from the more popular tourist areas, and the older buildings, wall, trees, etc, have been, or are being, demolished.

Notes:

1: Young, A. McLaren, James McNeill Whistler, Arts Council Gallery, London, and Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1960 (cat. no. 3).

2: Worcester Museum website at https://worcester.emuseum.com.

Last updated: 29th May 2021 by Margaret