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

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The Sea, Pourville, No. 1

Technique


                    The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, The Hyde Collection
The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, The Hyde Collection

                    Green and Silver: The Great Sea, The Hunterian
Green and Silver: The Great Sea, The Hunterian

This is typical of Whistler's panels of Pourville: for instance, Green and Silver: The Great Sea [YMSM 518] is similar in technique and composition.

The panel, chamfered at the ends, and cradled, is primed in grey. The sky is painted with short soft brush strokes of grey and pale turquoise-blue paint, and the turgid greenish sea is painted more vigorously, with a wavy horizon. The paint is of a thick, creamy consistency on the sea, the brush-marks having a clear raised outline. The grey beach is treated more broadly, with a square brush 4 mm (1/8") wide, with thinner, dryer, paint. The dark tones are emphasized by a neat black butterfly.

Conservation History


                    The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, photograph 1919
The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, photograph 1919

                    The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, photograph 1980
The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, photograph 1980

                    The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, The Hyde Collection
The Sea, Pourville, No. 1, The Hyde Collection

It has suffered some abrasion and paint loss at the edges, under the frame.

Frame

The frame, not an original Whistler frame, bears the label of E. & A. Milch, New York. It measures 29.2 x 36.8 x 3.5 cm (11 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 1 3/8").

Last updated: 5th December 2020 by Margaret