The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.0485
Nocturne: Battersea Bridge
Date
Nocturne: Battersea Bridge may have dated from 1872/1873, and may have been given to Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882).
The drawing is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 485).
Images
Nocturne: Battersea Bridge, whereabouts unknown
Subject
Site
Old Battersea Bridge over the River Thames in Chelsea, London.
Technique
Technique
If the measurements given in 1924 are correct, this was an upright composition, which, given the subject, would be very unusual.
History
Provenance
- 1870s?: said to have belonged to Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882);
- 1882: said to have been sold at auction, Martin Wharton, London, 5-7 July 1882 (no lot no.).
- By 1924: owned by Major S. M. Congreve, Southampton;
- 1924: sold at auction, Sotheby's, London, 6 February 1924 (lot 39) as 'Nocturne, Battersea Bridge', bought by 'Bowes', 1 guinea.
The early provenance, published in the 1924 catalogue, has not been proven.
It is possible that the 'S. M. Congreve' was Major William Maitland Congreve (1883-1867) served in the Royal Garrison Artillery and received the British War Medal and Victory Medal after the 1914-1918 war. He was on active service and much travelled but it is not clear if he could have been in Southampton in 1924 (he sailed from there at least once, in 1930).
Another (remote) possibility is Captain S. M. Congreve-Schneider in the East India Company, residing in India in the 1890s.
Exhibitions
No exhibition has been identified 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. 485) as 'Nocturne: Battersea Bridge'.