The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Green and pearl – La plage, Dieppe dates from 1885.

Green and pearl – La plage, Dieppe, National Gallery of Art, DC

It is fully catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1025).

Images

Subject

Site

Green and pearl – La plage, Dieppe, National Gallery of Art, DC

Dieppe, a town, port and holiday resort on the French coast.

Technique

Technique

Green and pearl – La plage, Dieppe, National Gallery of Art, DC

On 1 March 1889 Fun commented on 'the differentiation of small spots into types and almost personal traits is carried further, and, it seems, to the very limit of suggestiveness. The pose of a chair, the crossing of a foot, have a personal aim so distictive that it is almost ludicrous when associated with these hasty blots and dashes of color.'

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his sister-in-law, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1943: sold by her as 'A Beach in Brittany' to Colnaghi's, London dealers, 2 February;
• 1943: on 1 April, sold by Colnaghi's to Mrs Frances L. Evans, Oxfordshire, who owned it until at least 1960.
• 1972: sold at auction, Christie's, London, 19 May 1972 (lot 37, repr.) and bought by John Baskett for Paul Mellon (1907-1999), Washington DC;
• 1991: given by Mr and Mrs Mellon to the National Gallery of Art in honour of its 50th anniversary.

See further details in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1025).

Exhibitions

• 1886: 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 29) as 'Green and pearl – La Plage, Dieppe'.
• 1888: possibly III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1888 (cat. no. 28) as 'Grau und Gold: Trouville'.
• 1889: “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 20) as 'Grey and Gold – The Beach – Trouville'.

In its review of the Wunderlich exhibition, the New York Times did not specifically name this painting but the art critic praised 'the most delightful little impressions of sea beaches covered with crowds or dotted with single figures'. ¹

It was priced at 35 guineas in 1889, but remained unsold, and was returned after the exhibition by Wunderlich's on the SS Servia. ²

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1025) as 'Green and pearl – La plage, Dieppe'.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• 'Notes' - 'Harmonies' - 'Nocturnes', Second Series, Messrs Dowdeswell, London, 1886 (cat. no. 29) as 'Green and pearl – La Plage, Dieppe'.
• Possibly III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1888 (cat. no. 28) as 'Grau und Gold: Trouville'.
• “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 20) as 'Grey and Gold – The Beach – Trouville'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Fun, New York, 1 March 1889.
• Anon., 'Etchings, Drawings, Pastels', New York Times, New York, 3 March 1889, p. 5.
• The Epoch, New York, 8 March 1889.
• Anon., The Evening Sun, New York, 16 March 1889.

Books on Whistler

• Ono, Ayako, Japonisme in Britain: Whistler, Menpes, Henry, Hornel and nineteenth-century Japan, London, 2003, p. 80.

Books, General

• Herbert, John (ed.), Christie's Review of the Season, 1972, 1972, p. 140, repr.
• Wilmerding, John, In honor of Paul Mellon, collector and benefactor: essays, National Gallery of Art, Washington, and Hanover [N.H.], 1986, p. 122, fig. 9.

Catalogues 1906-Present

EXHIBITION:

• Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1991, 220-221, repr.
• Wilton, Andrew and Anne Lyles, The Great Age of British Watercolors 1750-1880, Royal Academy of Arts, London; National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1993 (cat. no. 325).
• Dorment, Richard, and Margaret F. MacDonald, James McNeill Whistler, Tate Gallery, London, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, and National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 1994-1995, (cat. no. 144) as 'Green and pearl – La plage, Dieppe'.

SALE:

• Christie's, London, 19 May 1972 (lot 37, repr.).

Websites

• National Gallery of Art website at https://www.nga.gov, as 'Beach Scene'.