The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Beach scene dates from 1885/1886.

Beach scene, photograph, Parke Bernet, 1947

It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1011).

Images

Subject

Site

Not identified; possibly in the Netherlands or the French coast.

Technique

Technique

Beach scene, photograph, Parke Bernet, 1947

This is extremely minimalistic, with a few precise details sketched in with a fine-pointed brush along the far distance, and a faint butterfly at lower right.

Conservation History

It is likely that the watercolour has faded a little, and that the paper has darkened slightly. It is darkened at the sides, under the mount.

History

Provenance

• Date unknown: Annie Burr Jennings (1855-1939).
• By 1946: owned by Helen Goodsell Jennings James, widow of Dr Walter Belknap James (1858-1927);
• 1947: Estate of the late Mrs Walter B. James of New York and Cold Spring Harbor, NY, auction, Parke Bernet, New York, 21-22 March 1947 (lot 309, repr.) as 'Beach Scene', bought by Walker Gallery.
• By 1968: Mr and Mrs John Pierrepont, New York.
• 2003: sold at auction, Christie's, New York 22 May 2003 (lot 38).
• 2008: at auction, Sotheby's, New York, 24 September 2008 (lot 66) as 'Beach at Dieppe';
• 2009: at auction, Doyle, New York, 19 May 2009 (lot 207) as 'Beach Scene at Dieppe' (unsold).

Exhibitions

No known exhibition 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. 1011) as 'Beach scene'.

Catalogues 1906-Present

EXHIBITION:

• Sweet, Frederick A., James McNeill Whistler, Art Institute of Chicago and Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, 1968 (CAT. NO. 64).

SALE:

• Estate of the late Mrs Walter B. James of New York and Cold Spring Harbor, New York, auction, Parke Bernet, New York, 21-22 March 1947 (lot 309, repr.) as 'Beach Scene'.

• Christie's, New York, 22 May 2003 (lot 38).
• Sotheby's, New York, 24 September 2008 (lot 66) as 'Beach at Dieppe';
• Doyle's, New York, 19 May 2009 (lot 207), as 'Beach Scene at Dieppe'.