The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Near Calais dates from September 1896.

Near Calais, Colby College Museum of Art

It was catalogued in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1476) but had not been seen by the authors, nor was it reproduced at that time.

Images

Subject

Site

Near Calais, Colby College Museum of Art

A beach on the French coast, near Calais.

Technique

Technique

Near Calais, Colby College Museum of Art

The details of figures, boats and butterfly, were painted with a fine pointed brush, in spiky or blocky strokes. Gouache or body-colour was used for the wriggly strokes showing waves breaking on the beach. The subtle colours of sky, sea and beach were painted more broadly, but with well-diluted paint, with the paper showing through at times, particularly in the foreground.

History

Provenance

• 1897: sold by Hermann Wunderlich (b. ca 1839-d. 1892), New York dealer by 24 September.
• 1904: owned by Annie Burr Jennings (1855-1939), Fairfield, CT.
• 2008: bought by Paula Crane Lunder (b. 1935) and Peter H. Lunder (b. 1933);
• 2013: given to Colby College Museum of Art, The Lunder Collection.

The provenance given in MacDonald 1995 (cat. rais.) [more] (cat. no. 1476) has been corrected and updated.

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. 95) as 'Near Calais'.

Bibliography

Catalogues Raisonnés

• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. no. 1476) as 'Near Calais'.

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. 95) as 'Near Calais'.

Websites

• Colby College Museum of Art website at https://www.colby.edu.