The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Grand Canal, Amsterdam; Nocturne dates from 1883/1884.

Grand Canal, Amsterdam; Nocturne, Freer Gallery of Art

This work is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 944).

Images

Subject

Site

Grand Canal, Amsterdam; Nocturne, Freer Gallery of Art

The city of Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands.

Technique

Technique

Grand Canal, Amsterdam; Nocturne, Freer Gallery of Art

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

History

Provenance

• 1884/1886: probably bought from Messrs Dowdeswell by Henry Studdy Theobald (1847-1934);
• 1902: bought by Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) in June;
• 1919: bequeathed to the Freer Gallery of Art.

Further details are given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 944).

Exhibitions

• 1884: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 18) as 'Grand Canal, Amsterdam, Nocturne'.
• 1884: Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures & Photography: A Loan Collection of Pictures by Mr Whistler ..., Dublin Sketching Club, Dublin, 1884 (cat. no. 232) as 'Grand Canal: Amsterdam'.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 106) as 'Nocturne- Grand Canal, Amsterdam'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 122) as 'Nocturne. Grand Canal. Amsterdam'.

The critic of the Morning Post on 24 May 1884 wrote that it was:

'a "Nocturne" not without picturesque effect, but in the absence of those schuyts, tjalas, &c., which give such bustle and animation to the present scene, the picture can hardly be said to represent a characteristic view. As well might Cheapside be painted without cabs and omnibuses.'

By the terms of Freer's will, this work cannot be lent to another venue.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 944) as 'Grand Canal, Amsterdam; Nocturne'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1884 (cat. no. 18) as 'Grand Canal, Amsterdam, Nocturne'.
• Annual Exhibition of Sketches, Pictures & Photography: A Loan Collection of Pictures by Mr Whistler ..., Dublin Sketching Club, Dublin, 1884 (cat. no. 232) as 'Grand Canal: Amsterdam'.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 106) as 'Nocturne- Grand Canal, Amsterdam'.
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 122) as 'Nocturne. Grand Canal. Amsterdam'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., 'Messrs Dowdeswell's Gallery', The Morning Post, London, 24 May 1884, p. 5.
• Anon., 'The Private View at the Dublin Sketching Club', Dublin Daily Express, Dublin, 1 December 1884, p. 5.

Books on Whistler

• Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobson, Blythe McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor: Lovely Little Games, New Haven and London, 2019.
• Heijbroek, J. F., and Margaret F. MacDonald, Whistler and Holland, Zwolle and Amsterdam, 1997, pp. 44, 54, repr. p. 44, pl. IV.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Curry, David Park, James McNeill Whistler at the Freer Gallery of Art, New York and London, 1984, p. 190, pl. 116.
• Myers, Kenneth John, Mr. Whistler’s Gallery: Pictures at an 1884 Exhibition, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2003, p. 49 (cat. no. 24).

Websites

• Freer Gallery of Art website at https://asia.si.edu/object/F1902.161a-b.
• Whistler in Watercolour, Freer|Sackler, Washington, 2019, website.