The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Little Scheveningen may date from 1884/1888, but could date from later. It is difficult to date, being known to the authors only from a photograph

Little Scheveningen, photograph, Library of Congress

This work is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 965).

Images

Subject

Site

Little Scheveningen, photograph, Library of Congress

Scheveningen, a fishing town and resort on the Dutch coast. The painting was described in the 1905 catalogue: 'A grey beach, with long stretch of sand, sea coming in, in the distance, three boats lie in the surf.' ¹ Whistler may have visited it on the recommendation of Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831-1915). ²

Technique

Technique

Little Scheveningen, photograph, Library of Congress

This is known to the authors only from a black and white photograph. See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 965).

History

Provenance

• By 1904: owned by Walter Gay (1856-1937).

Gay met Whistler in 1894 but it is not known when he acquired this picture or what happened to it later.

Exhibitions

• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 145) as 'Scheveningen'.
• 1905: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 42) as 'Little Scheveningen (a grey note)'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 965) as 'Little Scheveningen'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 145) as 'Scheveningen'.
• Memorial Exhibition of the Works of the late James McNeill Whistler, First President of The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers, New Gallery, Regent Street, London, 1905 (cat. no. 42) as 'Little Scheveningen (a grey note)'.

Books on Whistler

• Heijbroek, J. F., and Margaret F. MacDonald, Whistler and Holland, Zwolle and Amsterdam, 1997, pp. 115-116, repr. fig. 130.

Catalogues 1906-Present

• Aquarellen, Pastels, Teekingen, Etsen, Lithographien en een Schilderij door James McNeill Whistler, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, 1906 (cat. no. 17) as 'Little Scheveningen, a grey note'.