The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Study for a Nocturne dates from 1872/1875.

Study for a Nocturne, Private Collection

The drawing is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 477).

Images

Subject

Description

Study for a Nocturne, Private Collection

A river scene in horizontal format. An uneven line of buildings, probably warehouses, stretches from above centre at right into the distance at left. Towards the far left is a spire. At right a jumble of lines may indicate a pier or barge by the river bank. Numerous lights along the bank are reflected in the water.

Site

This is almost certainly the south bank of the River Thames in London. Related drawings include r.: Sketch of Battersea Reach for a Nocturne; v.: Illegible (skyline?) m0474 and Sketch for a Nocturne m0475.

Technique

Technique

The 1995 catalogue summarises the technique as follows:

'This is one of several aides-mémoires of the Thames … The river was indicated with very few lines. Two lines go right across the buildings along the horizon. One clean outline was drawn right across the paper from left to right. Some vertical shading was added, and soft, vague horizontals along the shore line, punctuated irregularly with the dots and relections of lights along the riverside, added in white. It is on a quite fine brown paper with a yellowish tone.' ¹

Conservation History

Study for a Nocturne, Private Collection

Torn into four pieces by the artist and repaired by Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913).

Way's 'reduced facsimile' of the drawing, published in 1912, may not have been entirely accurate. Some lines in the drawing are partly missing from the reproduction, while others are more prominent. ² Way's reproductive process is not known, although it has been assumed he was using a photo-lithographic process: he may also have touched up or emphasized some colours. On the other hand, some of the chalk lines in the original drawing may have been rubbed or faded slightly.

History

Provenance

• 1870s: acquired by Thomas Way (1837-1915), London;
• Date unknown: bought from his son Thomas Robert Way (1861-1913), or from his wife Amy Ellen Way née Cox (1865-1949), by Pickford Robert Waller (1849-1930);
• 1930: bequeathed to his daughter, Sybil Christina Waller (1882-1973);
• 1965: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 12 November 1965 (lot 30) as 'Sketch for a Nocturne'.
• 1970: sold at auction, Sotheby's, London, 11 June 1970 (lot 30) as 'Study for a Nocturne' and bought by Williams & Son, London art dealers, for £100.0.0;
• 1970/1974: bought by Ira Spanierman (n/a), New York dealer;
• 1974: Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, 23 May 1974 (lot 41 I) bought in;
• ca 1978: bought by a private collector.

Exhibitions

• Not exhibited in Whistler's lifetime.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no 477) as 'Study for a Nocturne'.

Books on Whistler

• Way, Thomas Robert, Memories of James McNeill Whistler, the Artist, London and New York, 1912, pp. 14-15, repr. f.p. 14.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Spink, Nesta, Whistler: The Later Years, University of Michigan Art Gallery, Ann Arbor, 1978 (checklist, cat. no. 42).
• Whistler: Themes and Variations, Montgomery Art Gallery, Pomona College, Claremont, CA; Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA; Stanford University Museum of Art, CA, 1978 (cat. no. 14) as 'Study for a Nocturne' (repr. p. 24).