The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 154
Nocturne in Blue and Gold
Date
Nocturne in Blue and Gold may date from the early/mid-1870s.
It was shown at the II Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1878 (cat. no. 56) as 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold'.
Images
Nocturne in Blue and Gold, Whereabouts unknown
Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Battersea Reach, Freer Gallery of Art
Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water, Freer Gallery of Art
Subject
Titles
Only one title is known:
- 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold' (1878, Grosvenor). 1
Description
A riverscape in horizontal format; it was described by a journalist as 'the luminous darkness of a moonlit night' 2 and by The Times on 2 May 1878, as a view 'of the river in fog'.
Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Battersea Reach, Freer Gallery of Art
Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water, Freer Gallery of Art
It was described more fully in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 14 May 1878:
' "Nocturne in Blue and Gold" is evidently the entrance to a harbour; there can be very little doubt of the fact, as there is a distinct suggestion of lights on a sort of pier or wharf, and one sail which sticks up in a dejected sort of way shows conclusively that the artist is treating a river or sea scene.'
This description is not full enough to confirm the identity of the painting, though it could in part apply to Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach y119 or Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water y179.
Site
Probably the River Thames, London.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
- Unknown.
Exhibitions
- 1878: II Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1878 (cat. no. 56) as 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold'.
In 1878 the Sheffield Independent commented on Whistler's 'half-dozen pictures like plates of smoked glass.' 3 The 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold' was described cursorily by the art critic of The Times, 2 May 1878, as a view 'of the river in fog', and marginally more appreciatively by another journalist as 'the luminous darkness of a moonlit night.' 4
It was described more fully in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 14 May 1878:
' "Nocturne in Blue and Gold" is evidently the entrance to a harbour; there can be very little doubt of the fact, as there is a distinct suggestion of lights on a sort of pier or wharf, and one sail which sticks up in a dejected sort of way shows conclusively that the artist is treating a river or sea scene.'
Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Battersea Reach, Freer Gallery of Art
Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water, Freer Gallery of Art
This description is not precise enough to confirm the identity of the work exhibited. It could fit Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Battersea Reach y119 or Nocturne in Black and Gold: Entrance to Southampton Water y179 but the latter was exhibited at the Grosvenor some years later so it is an unlikely candidate.
Other paintings, whose history is not complete, or which are known to have had complaisant owners and are therefore possible candidates for the 1878 exhibition, include Nocturne: Blue and Gold - Southampton Water y117 and Nocturne in Blue and Gold y141. In addition others could have been exhibited occasionally under this title, and have been available in 1878.
Bibliography
Catalogues Raisonnés
- Young, Andrew McLaren, Margaret F. MacDonald, Robin Spencer, and Hamish Miles, The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler, New Haven and London, 1980 (cat. no. 154) as 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- II Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1878 (cat. no. 56) as 'Nocturne in Blue and Gold'.
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'Grosvenor Gallery', Sheffield Independent, Sheffield, 2 May 1878, p. 5.
- Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery', The Times, London, 2 May 1878, p. 7.
- Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery,' Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 14 May 1878, p. 6.
Journals 1855-1905
- Blackburn, Henry, Grosvenor Notes, London, 1878, p. 20.
- Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery', Magazine of Art, 1878, p. 51.
Monographs
- None.
Books on Whistler
- None.
Books, General
- None.
Catalogues 1906-Present
- None.
Journals 1906-Present
- None.
Websites
- None.
Unpublished
- None.
Other
- None.
Notes:
1: II Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1878 (cat. no. 56).
2: Press cutting labelled 'Daily Telegraph', [May 1878], in GUL Whistler PC 1, p. 89.
3: 'Grosvenor Gallery', Sheffield Independent, 2 May 1878.
4: [May 1878], press cutting labelled 'Daily Telegraph' in GUL Whistler PC 1, p. 89.