The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
M.1139
A Grey Note - Flags, Portsmouth
Date
A Grey Note – Flags, Portsmouth dates from 1887. As President of the Society of British Artists, Whistler was invited to attend the Naval Review at Spithead on 27 July that marked the 50th Anniversary of the succession of Queen Victoria (1819-1901). This was probably a scene at the Review.
It is catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1139).
Images
A Grey Note – Flags, Portsmouth, Whereabouts unknown
Subject
Site
Whistler's day at the Naval Review started and ended at Tilbury Docks, and took in both Southampton and Portsmouth. He made an etching, Children, Portsmouth [301], which shows the Fleet with all flags flying.
Technique
Technique
Unknown. It is possible that it was an oil painting.
History
Provenance
- 1889: bought from Wunderlich's, New York dealers, by J. N. or J. H. Wade, jr.
Wunderlich's at one point said that Wade had 'disappeared'. 1 However, the painting was not returned to Whistler, so the sale may have been completed satisfactorily. Wunderlich's letter appears to read 'J. N. Wade Jr.' but no such person has been identified. Jeptha Homer Wade II (1857-1926) a financier, who helped develop Cleveland Museum of Art, may have been the purchaser, in which case this painting may have burnt with his country house in 1927. 2 However, the purchaser has not been conclusively identified.
Exhibitions
- 1887: Winter Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1887-1888 (cat. no. 235) as 'A Grey Note'.
- 1889: “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 33) as 'A Grey Note – Flags, Portsmouth'.
It was described by The Globe, London, 29 November 1887, as 'an excellent sea-coast [study] of miniature size' and by the Manchester Courier on the following day (which identified it as 'A Gray Note, Portsmouth') as showing that Whistler was 'gradually getting out of his eccentricities'!
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1139) as 'A Grey Note – Flags, Portsmouth'.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- Winter Exhibition, Royal Society of British Artists, London, 1887-1888 (cat. no. 235) as 'A Grey Note'.
- “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 33) as 'A Grey Note – Flags, Portsmouth'.
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Royal Society of British Artists', The Globe, London, 29 November 1887, p. 3.
- Anon., 'London Art Galleries', Manchester Courier, Manchester, 30 November 1887, p. 5.
Notes:
1: Wunderlich and Co. to Whistler, April 1889, GUW #07175.
2: See MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1139), where, under 'History', the purchaser was suggested as Wade's grandfather, the first Jeptha Homer Wade (1811-1890). This now seems unlikely as he was not 'junior'.