The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Grey and silver – Pier, Southend dates from 1883/1884.

Grey and silver – Pier, Southend, Freer Gallery of Art

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 890).

Images

Subject

Site

Grey and silver – Pier, Southend, Freer Gallery of Art

Southend-on-Sea was a popular resort on the Essex coast, some 60 kilometers east of London, on the north side of the Thames Estuary. It was easily reached by rail on a day trip from London

Technique

Technique

See technical details in Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.

History

Provenance

• 1883/1884: probably given away by the artist, with Erith - Evening m0884;
• 1884: bought from an old lady by Messrs Dowdeswell, London dealers, and probably returned to Whistler;
• 1884/1886: bought through Messrs Dowdeswell by Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934);
• 1902: bought in June by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919), Detroit;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 890).

Exhibitions

• 1884: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 62) as 'Grey and silver – Pier, Southend'.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 135) as 'Grey and Silver. Pier. Southend'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 109) as 'Grey and Silver. Pier. Southend'.

Edward William Godwin (1833-1886) praised the 'precision and dexterity' of this watercolour. ¹

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 890) as 'Grey and silver – Pier, Southend'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 62) as 'Grey and silver – Pier, Southend'.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 135) as 'Grey and Silver. Pier. Southend'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 109) as 'Grey and Silver. Pier. Southend'.

Journals 1855-1905

• Godwin, E. W., 'To Art Students', Letter No. 9', British Architect, vol. 22, July 1884, p. 13.

Books on Whistler

• Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobson, Blythe McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor: Lovely Little Games, New Haven and London, 2019.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 184, 200, pl. 104.
• Myers, Kenneth John, Mr. Whistler’s Gallery: Pictures at an 1884 Exhibition, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2003, pp. 25, 51 (cat. no. 26), fig. 17.

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1902.169a-c.
• Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.