The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel dates from between 1875 and 1877. ¹

Whistler's earliest night scenes, painted 1870-1872 and first exhibited as 'moonlights', were renamed 'nocturnes' by 1872. Whistler painted nocturnes throughout the 1870s.

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, Tate Britain

In 1875 he mentioned to Frances Leyland (1834-1910) 'another couple of Nocturnes hang on the walls that even you would I think acknowledge to be beautiful.' ² On 18 September 1875, Whistler's mother, Anna Matilda Whistler (1804-1881), explained, 'his Moonlight pictures are from his own look out on the Thames, & one lately finished of Cremorne Gardens at Chelsea.' ³ Cremorne pleasure gardens closed to the public in 1877.

Whistler's paintings of Cremorne include this painting, Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, as well as Cremorne, No. 1 y163, Cremorne Gardens, No. 2 y164, Nocturne: Cremorne Gardens, No. 3 y165, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Gardens y166, Nocturne in Black and Gold y167, and Cremorne y168, as well as the famous – and controversial – Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170.

Images

Subject

Titles

Several possible titles have been suggested:

• 'Nocturnes of Cremorne ... the long one with the great Catherine wheel' (1882, Whistler). ⁴
• 'Cremorne Symphonies' (1882, A. S. Cole). ⁵
• 'Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Great Fire Wheel' (1883, Grosvenor). ⁶
• Possibly 'Nocturne' (1886, International Exhibition, Edinburgh). ⁷
• Possibly 'Nocturne en noir et or' (1887, Georges Petit). ⁸
• ' "Nocturne en noir et or. No. 2.” Souvenir de Cremorne' (1888, Société des XX, Brussels). ⁹
• 'Nocturne in Black & Gold – The Fire-wheel' (1888, Whistler). ¹⁰
• 'Nachtstück in Schwarz und Gold: Das Feuerad' (1888, III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Munich). ¹¹
• 'Firewheel' (1889, Whistler) ¹²
• 'Nocturne in Black & Gold – The Fire Wheel' (1889, Wunderlich). ¹³
• 'Nocturne en noir et or' (1890, Société des artistes français, Paris). ¹⁴
• 'Noctune – Black and Gold / The Fire Wheel' (1892, Goupil). ¹⁵
• 'Nocturne – Roue de feu' (1892, M. Joyant). ¹⁶
• 'Nocturne, Black and Gold' (1902, Society of American Artists). ¹⁷
• 'Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel' (1980, YMSM). ¹⁸

'Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel' is the preferred title.

Description

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, Tate Britain

A night scene in horizontal format. It is very dark except for a bright firework flaming at right, casting sparks and smoke across the area. At left is a fountain lit with fairy lights, and above it, a stream of sparks from a rocket in the sky. There is a crowd of spectators watching the fire-wheel at right, and smaller groups, walking or watching, in the centre. A few heads are seen right in the foreground.

Site

Cremorne Pleasure Gardens in Chelsea. It closed to the public in 1877.

The Tate website describes the scene:

'The gardens were situated at the west end of Chelsea on the river, only a few hundred yards from Whistler's residence in Lindsey Row. They could be reached by foot or by steamboat, and offered a variety of entertainments, including restaurants, theatres, a "stereorama", a gypsy grotto, a maze and an indoor bowling alley. In all his depictions of the gardens, Whistler ignored the dancing and music which were major features of the nightlife there and focused on the more mysterious and ephemeral activities, such as the nightly display of fireworks. Both this work and The Falling Rocket (1875, The Detroit Institute of Arts) show the climax of one of the pyrotechnic displays which were held every evening on the Cremorne fireworks platform, known as the Grotto. A crowd of spectators, their backs turned to us, are watching in awe the spectacular Catherine wheel as it revolves in the night sky, throwing off a shower of sparks. A tiered fountain strung with fairy lights is just visible to the left of the picture, with trees to left and right.' ¹⁹

Walter Greaves, Fireworks, Cremorne Gardens, The Hunterian

Walter Greaves painted several nocturnes of Cremorne, three of which were exhibited in London at the Goupil Gallery in 1911 (cat. nos. 29, 34, 67) including one showing Fireworks (cat. no. 67). ²⁰ This may be the Fireworks, Cremorne Gardens now in the Hunterian, and reproduced above (GLAHA 43537).

Technique

Composition

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, Tate Britain

Copy of 'Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel', watercolour, The Hunterian

There is a small watercolour copy done by Whistler many years afterwards, Copy of 'Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel' m1359, which, although much smaller in scale, helps to clarify the original appearance of the painting.

Technique

Taylor noted that while the figures were painted with conventional, if slightly decorative, brushwork, the cascades of sparks and spent fireworks were deliberately dripped on to the surface. ²¹ This is not entirely true – most of the dots were placed deliberately by painting them neatly and with precision on the dark background. As Marc Simpson points out, the sparks were painted carefully and 'intentionally situated in their direction and focus so as to imply the depth of their burst and scatter.' ²²

Paintings for exhibition, Musées Royaux Des Beaux Arts De Belgique

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, photograph, 1892, Goupil Album, GUL Whistler PH5/2

The fountain, barely visible on the left, is also indicated by tiny spots of colour, although it is possible – comparing Whistler's pen drawing of 1888, and the photograph published in 1892, with the present state of the painting – that it originally stood out more than it does now.

Copy of 'Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel', watercolour, The Hunterian

Professor Joyce H. Townsend has written a detailed report based on a visual and technical examination of the painting:

'Whistler’s own watercolour after the painting, likely gives a good impression of what has been lost to contemporary viewers.

X-radiography did not reveal previous use of the canvas nor recognisable changes in composition, though the details of the painting are difficult to discern today, when comparing the number of rockets and sparks. The X-radiograph suggests more of these than can be recognised today, but it is impossible to tell whether Whistler effaced some, if varnish removal also removed paint from some, or whether they lie swamped beneath the varnishes today. Examination in raking light does not suggest compositional changes either. It does confirm what the microscope can also show: that the very fine canvas was excessively rubbed down by the artist, with the tops of the canvas threads visible all over the surface, and to a greater extent than often occurs. This is what caused such dramatic absorption of lining adhesive, through the whole depth of the canvas and up into the paint.

The canvas was not primed, but was presumably sized. Whistler applied a warm dark grey imprimatura made from lead white, bone black and cadmium yellow. It too can be glimpsed through the microscope, where the rubbing down reached the canvas threads. This of itself would have led to some darkening as the paint aged, an optical phenomenon that occurs as paint applied over a mid-toned or darker layer grows more transparent with age.

Even with the microscope, it is nearly impossible to see what Whistler painted. Blue glazes and runs of dull olive green paint can be seen, but their function is none too clear. Bright red vermilion, red ochre, the deep blue of natural ultramarine, cobalt or cerulean blue, raw umber and ivory black can be recognised. The red fireworks in fact were painted in an orange tone. The fire wheel itself includes pure white that could be mistaken now for yellow ochre, glazes of intense chrome yellow, likely chrome orange, and a red organic colorant which is the only one in this list that might be subject to fading when exposed to light. Elsewhere, vermilion, chrome yellow, chrome orange and Prussian blue were employed. The palette is less tightly controlled in this painting than in the nocturnes, and it is possible that not all the colours employed have even been recognised in this examination.

No treatment has been carried out since 1959, because the optical effects of darkening caused by lining, darkening of the paint medium, and the use of an underlayer much darker than a mid-tone cannot be much ameliorated by removal of the yellowed varnishes. The extensive rubbing-down would also make varnish removal extremely challenging.' ²³

Conservation History

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, photograph, 1892 Goupil Album, GUL Whistler PH5/2

Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169 may have been sent to Stephen Richards (1844-1900) for some treatment, as Whistler wrote to him on 12 June 1892:

'About the large Nocturne of Cremorne ... What did you do to this? - I wanted you to clean it and take off whatever varnish there may have been upon it - and send unvarnished, that I might paint upon it. I have not examined it closely - but at first sight it doesn't seem as if you had done anything to it at all?' ²⁴

Copy of 'Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel', watercolour, The Hunterian

In 1893 Whistler made a watercolour Copy of 'Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel' m1359, which is reproduced above. ²⁵ It is signed with a butterfly on the verso and inscribed in pencil: '"Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Fire Wheel"/ from the original/ April 20th 1893’. It gives a good impression of the painting (as does the photograph taken in 1892 for the Goupil Album) but suggests that it has darkened considerably.

In 1896 the varnish on the painting was replaced by Stephen Richards (1844-1900) under Whistler's directions. He told the new owner, Arthur Haythorne Studd (1863-1919):

'The thing to do will be to let Richardson [sic] have the picture - and I will see him tomorrow morning and preside myself at the varnishing - After all it is his own varnish that was upon it - and he will therefore be full of care and everything will come right at once - Doubtless the two journeys over the ocean have chilled the varnish - but the painting is in its perfect condition.' ²⁶

He instructed Richards in the treatment required:

'If you are able tomorrow morning, when you get this, the first thing I wish you would go to Mr. Arthur Studds 97 Cheyne Walk - Chelsea -

I want you to take with you the materials for varnishing a picture of mine that is hanging in his drawing room -

You doubtless will remember it - having varnished it a few years ago at the time of the Exhibition at Messrs. Goupil in the old Bond Street rooms - a Nocturne, "The Firewheel". -

The picture has just come back from America - and though perfectly clean - I washed it myself this afternoon - is in a very dull state - The varnish is quite chilled, and much sunken in -

It is quite ready to have another coat of varnish - your very best! - So give a thin coat tomorrow morning - This will go perfectly, ... and you will have got again the beautiful enamel surface that you know I so greatly admire -

You had better give the picture a gentle rub, with your chamois leather first - ... I want you to make a beautiful job of this - If you do, Mr. Studd, to whom I have already spoken, will, I am sure, have you down in future to take care of his pictures.' ²⁷

The operations concluded, Whistler told Studd:

'Your picture is splendid!

I have been with Richards - and the old varnish, in its perished state, was removed under my supervision - and today the new coat of varnish was put on -

The painting is in a lovely condition and you have never before seen your picture as you now will see it - It is most brilliant ... as if it had left the easel yesterday -

Richards thinks it better to keep it until Monday so that it may dry thoroughly - before risking the journey.' ²⁸

Whistler also reported to E. G. Kennedy, who had returned the picture to London earlier in the year:

'The Firewheel arrived in pitiable condition! All the varnish perished - and the background quite invisible - covered with patches of dim grey - No wonder no one could see anything in it - Had it at once cleaned, revarnished - Beautiful again! - Sold at once for 1000 guineas - So thats all right ... What is the cause? Can it be the salt air crossing?' ²⁹

It seems it required further treatment in 1900, and was sent to the Maison Chapuis in Paris for the varnish to be removed and restoration effected under Whistler's direction: on 4 April, Studd enquired 'if I am soon to welcome it back to my drawing room - I hope you do not think I am unworthy of taking charge of it.' ³⁰

A recent report by Professor Joyce H. Townsend adds valuable details on the technique, condition and conservation of the painting:

'It is unclear whether Whistler requested restorer Stephen Richards to remove the varnish in 1892 so that he (Whistler) could work on it, but in 1896 he certainly did have Stephens remove and replace it. Whistler’s written phrase, "After all it is his own varnish that was upon it", ³¹ does suggest this was a second removal, albeit the first re-varnishing, done because the varnish was "chilled" and "sunken in" by travelling twice across the Atlantic, by ship. This means, that the surface looked cloudy instead of transparent, not necessarily that it was yellowed. Exposure of a natural resin varnish to a damp environment was said to cause chilling. Whistler himself "washed" the surface prior to this re-varnishing, which means that he had removed grime from the surface of the varnish with water. Whistler requested Stephens to give a gentle rub with chamois leather, which would counteract the chilling, followed by a thin coat of presumed natural resin varnish, which would have been applied with a brush.

By 1959 the painting had a yellowed, tinted varnish of natural resin – not that of 1896, since by then the canvas had been trimmed, lined with glue paste, and put onto a new stretcher, by the Paris-based company whose label ("Maison CHAPUIS / BRIESON Frères, Neveux & Successairs / Retoileurs de Musées nationaux / 20, Quai de la Megisserie / Rue de Bourdonnais") is on the stretcher. In 1959, the surface dirt was removed from this varnish and an additional varnish made from natural resin (mastic) was applied at Tate. It appears that Whistler had authorised the treatment by Maison Chapuis in 1900, but made no comments afterwards concerning its likely altered appearance. From a twenty-first century perspective, the lining impregnated the canvas with lining adhesive, which would immediately have made it appear much darker – and Whistler must have observed this, yet he continued to regard the painting highly. More seriously today, the high temperature employed during lining has by now made the paint medium turn more brown than yellow. Its content of thinners made this change likely, but the liners could not have known of this. Further, regular light exposure in exhibitions and an early owner’s home has led to severe yellowing of the two natural resin varnishes present. There is a fine haze of cracks in the varnishes too.' ³²

Frame

1883: The style and whereabouts of the original frame(s) are not known.

1892: Grau Whistler frame made by Frederick Henry Grau (1859-1892): gold leaf (oil gilding) on wood (pine).

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, Tate Britain

Whistler ordered several frames from Grau during the preparations for the Goupil Gallery exhibition of 1892, including this one. He instructed that all his ‘pictures be in good condition – properly framed and glazed.' ³³

Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston 1904, photograph, GUL Whistler PH6/6

Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston 1904, photograph, GUL Whistler PH6/6

It appears at upper right in these photographs of the 1904 Boston exhibition.

1919: Soon after its accession by the Tate the frame was altered to make a removable glazing door to protect the painting. This enabled the glazing and painting to be removed from the frame while it was still hung on the wall. The door is indicated by thumbscrew fixings at top-left and right, which are stamped with Tate’s accession number. The frame was re-gilded but eventually the gilding started to flake and the frame became dirty.

History

Provenance

• 1878-1888: deposited with Algernon Graves (1845-1922), London print dealer and publisher, as security for a loan;
• 1890/1891: retrieved by the artist;
• 1896: bought from the artist by Arthur Haythorne Studd (1863-1919), London;
• 1919: bequeathed to the National Gallery, London;
• 1949: transferred to the Tate Gallery, London (Tate Britain).

In 1877 Whistler tried to sell 'The two Cremornes' to Alfred Chapman (1839-1917) for £80 (see Cremorne y168). ³⁴

An account of Whistler's debts to Charles Augustus Howell (1840?-1890) in 1877 includes a modest payment of £9.1.0 for 'Cremornes', which probably covers the delivery of two paintings of Cremorne to an unspecified location. ³⁵ Certainly by 9 September 1878 Howell had arranged that 'two nocturnes' and several other paintings should be deposited with Henry Graves & Co., printsellers, at 6 Pall Mall. ³⁶ It seems that Howell deposited two Cremorne Nocturnes (Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel and Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170) with Graves & Co. as surety for a loan of £85 made to the artist. This is explained in the statement of account sent to Whistler ten years later by Algernon Graves (1845-1922), on whose information the Pennells and Albert Ludovici, Jr (1852-1932) based their accounts. ³⁷ A letter of 17 March 1881 from Graves to Whistler states: 'I have managed to get back the three nocturnes as I promised I would do - so we can arrange about them whenever you like - but they must not stand over too long.' ³⁸ It is not clear why he mentions three Nocturnes, when most of their correspondence refers only to the two of Cremorne. In the following year Whistler, attempting to sell the pawned paintings, wrote to Graves:

'I want you to lend me the two Nocturnes of Cremorne - the upright one with the fireworks (falling rocket) and the long one with the great Catherine Wheel -

I should like to show them in my Studio on Sunday when I expect some people - You can of course always have them back when you wish - and meanwhile I think it would be advantageous that they should be seen at my place.' ³⁹

Graves delivered the pictures on the condition that if sold the money should be paid to his firm (see Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170), with any balance over £50 each put to credit on account of payment still to be made on the purchase of Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of the Painter's Mother y101 and Arrangement in Grey and Black, No. 2: Portrait of Thomas Carlyle y137. ⁴⁰ Whistler wrote to Graves on 19 June 1882, stating: 'I will send you very soon a cheque on account of the two Nocturnes you were so good as to send.' ⁴¹ On 26 April 1883 Whistler made a down payment of £50 towards the re-purchase of this painting and Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket from Graves, leaving £35 plus interest of £9.18.4 still outstanding. ⁴²

On 2 March 1889 Whistler suggested that if Graves could 'sell the ... Firewheel for 400 £', he (Graves) could deduct the 10 per cent commission from the sale as well as the £35 still due on the two Nocturnes. ⁴³ At the end of December 1890, Henry Graves (1806-1892) sent an account, including £9.18.4 interest still due on the two Nocturnes. ⁴⁴ It is likely that Whistler settled the debt soon after this.

By June of the following year the Nocturnes were with David Croal Thomson (1855-1930) of Goupil's who sent them to Paris; a client was interested but the firm wanted to reduce the price to £300. ⁴⁵ Whistler recommended showing the paintings to Levi Ziegler Leiter (1834-1904), whom he described creatively as an 'archimillionaire.' ⁴⁶ The paintings made the trip but the sale did not go through. On 11 May 1892 Whistler again wrote to Thomson, suggesting he sell Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel to Bertha Honoré Palmer (1849-1918), Chicago, for 800 guineas. ⁴⁷ In July of the same year Whistler offered it to the New York art dealer Max Williams (d. 1928):

'The picture you ask about is a "Nocturne in Black & Gold, The Fire Wheel" -

This is and always has been one of my favourite pictures. I want guineas for it - fifteen hundred guineas for it - (£1575 -). If you buy it you may be sure that you are not making a bad stroke of business. The value of these things of mine has not decreased with time, and the days when only "two hundred pounds was charged for a pot of paint flung in the face of the public" by Mr Whistler have gone by.

By the way, this is one of the works that especially roused the ire of Ruskin, resulting in the famous trial.' ⁴⁸

This was not entirely true! – it was another Cremorne nocturne, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170, that was targeted by John Ruskin (1819-1900).

Copy of 'Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel', watercolour, The Hunterian

It appears that for at least a year Max Williams had the option to sell not only this oil but the watercolour, Copy of 'Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel' m1359. Whistler, holidaying in Brittany, enquired, 'Have you sold the little water colour drawing of the nocturne fire wheel. - Have you sold the original?' ⁴⁹ But apparently Williams failed to sell it, for on 4 February 1894 Whistler told Edward Guthrie Kennedy (1849-1932) of Wunderlich's, New York dealers, that it was still for sale: 'I have ... the "Fire Wheel, Black & Gold" left - The fire wheel you know I want £1000 guineas for.' ⁵⁰ By February 1896 Whistler – desperate for money due to the illness of his wife – had consigned it for sale to Kennedy, who also failed to sell it; Whistler asked him to return it, but suggested that he could show it to the architect Stanford White (1853-1906), who 'ought to get it for a museum.' ⁵¹

Meanwhile Alexander Reid (1854-1928) in Glasgow expressed an interest in buying it for himself or a client, for 'a modest price', but then refused to consider more than half the 1000gns Whistler asked. ⁵² Whistler, having told Kennedy that he believed that someone in Scotland was interested, asked him to return it, which Kennedy finally did, rather unwillingly. ⁵³ It arrived, wrote Whistler to Kennedy, 'in pitiable condition! ... Had it at once cleaned - revarnished - Beautiful again!- Sold at once for 1000 guineas.' ⁵⁴ The purchaser was Arthur H. Studd, an artist and one of Whistler's great admirers, who bought it on 31 March 1896. ⁵⁵

According to George Hobson, Charles Lang Freer (1856-1919) of Detroit was prepared to pay £250,000 for Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl y052, Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights y115 and Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169, but Studd refused to sell. ⁵⁶ Despite Whistler's declared wish that none of his paintings should stay in England, Studd bequeathed his collection to the National Gallery in London.

Exhibitions

• 1883: VII Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1883 (cat. no. 115) as 'Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Great Fire Wheel'.
• 1886: possibly International Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1886 (cat. no. 1399) as 'Nocturne'.
• 1887: possibly Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 212) as 'Nocturne en noir et or'.
• 1888: Ve Exposition des XX, Société des XX, Brussels, 1888 (cat. no. 2) as ' "Nocturne en noir et or. No. 2.” Souvenir de Cremorne'.
• 1888: III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1888 (cat. no. 2455) as 'Nachtstück in Schwarz und Gold: Das Feuerad'.
• 1889: “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 54) as 'Nocturne in Black & Gold – The Fire Wheel'.
• 1890: Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure et lithographie des artistes vivants, 105th exhibition, Salon de la Société des artistes français, Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris, 1890 (cat. no. 2440) as 'Nocturne en noir et or'.
• 1892: Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 7) as 'Nocturne – Black and Gold / The Fire Wheel'.
• 1892: Exposition Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Champ-de-Mars, Paris, 1892 (ex.cat.) 'Nocturne – Roue de Feu'.
• 1892: VI. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1892.
• 1894: Große Kunst-Ausstellung des Kunst-Vereins in der Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, 1894 (catalogue untraced).
• 1894: Exposition Universelle des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp, 1894 (cat. no. 2370) as 'Nocturne noir et or'.
• 1897: Allmänna konst- och industriutställningen, Stockholm, 1897, as 'Fyrverkeri'.
• 1902: Twenty-fourth Annual Exhibition, Society of American Artists, New York, 1902 as 'Nocturne, Black and Gold'.
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 66) as 'Nocturne in Black and Gold "The Falling Rocket".
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 65) as 'Nocturne. Noir et or. La roue de feu. (Nocturne. Black and Gold. The Fire Wheel.)'.

1877: London.

After Whistler's bankruptcy, when he was in Venice, he wrote to C. A. Howell enquiring 'about the Nocturnes of Cremorne that were exhibited?', but no record has been located of this painting being exhibited before 1883. ⁵⁷ It may be that he was a bit confused about what was exhibited when. In a letter to the art dealer Max Williams, in July 1892, Whistler stated: ' "Nocturne in Black and Gold - the Fire Wheel"… always has been one of my favourite pictures. ... the days when "two hundred pounds was charged for a pot of paint flung in the face of the public" by Mr Whistler have gone.' ⁵⁸ Whistler also added, inaccurately, 'By the way this is one of the works that especially roused the ire of Ruskin's – resulting in the famous trial' (see Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170). ⁵⁹

1883: London.

At the time of the Grosvenor exhibition Whistler wrote to a friend, the artist Thomas Waldo Story (1855-1915), 'I am just a little out of it this year - sending only fire works and the blue sea you liked so much in Liverpool - However they look splendid.' ⁶⁰ Janey Sevilla Campbell (Lady Archibald Campbell) (ca 1846-d.1923) saw Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169 at the Grosvenor and commented, 'I see you are showing - firing off fireworks & you are harking back to wicked Cremorne.' ⁶¹

On 1 May 1883 The Ipswich Journal suggested that it 'would seem to represent a crack piece of Crystal Palace fireworks on a particularly dark night the moment before its final extinction in the blackness,' and on 25 May, the Dundee Advertiser called it 'arrant nonsense.' In contrast, the Pall Mall Gazette of 2 May, remembering the artist's hostile reaction to certain art critics, was conspicuously circumspect in referring to Whistler's exhibits: 'Mr. Whistler obliges the public with two nocturnes, one in "Blue and Silver" (111), the other in "Black and Gold" (115), of both of which we desire to be understood to speak in a respectful and becoming manner.'

1886-1887: Edinburgh.

Either Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169 or Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170 was probably exhibited in Edinburgh in 1886 as 'Nocturne' (see also Nocturne y171) and at the Galerie Georges Petit in 1887. It is difficult to distinguish between the exhibition histories of the two Cremorne Nocturnes that Whistler had pawned to Graves.

1888: Brussels.

However, it was definitely sent to the exhibition of Les Vingts in Brussels as ' "Nocturne en noir et or. No. 2.” Souvenir de Cremorne'.

Paintings for exhibition, Musées Royaux Des Beaux Arts De Belgique

At the request of Octave Maus (1856-1919), Whistler sent a sketch of the painting to be reproduced in the catalogue, Paintings for exhibition m0910, as well as instructions on how his panel should be hung. The sketch shows the eight works submitted, some single and some double hung. Arrangement in Black and Brown: The Fur Jacket y181 is prominent as the upright in the centre, with Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel underneath it. ⁶² Admittedly, the drawing is extremely rough and barely serves to identify Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel conclusively as the picture exhibited in Brussels in 1888. ⁶³ In any case, the paintings were well received, Maus assured Whistler, 'Vous avez eu, comme d'habitude le plus grand succès et nous avons été très heureux de votre participation, qui a rehaussé brillamment l'exposition.' ⁶⁴

1888-1892: Munich and USA.

For exhibition in Munich in 1888, ' "Nocturne in Black & Gold" – The firewheel', was valued at £500. ⁶⁵ For Wunderlich's in New York in 1889, it remained unsold at the asking price of 350 gns. ⁶⁶ In May 1892, after further exhibitions, and with American collectors such as Bertha Honoré Palmer in the offing, Whistler raised the price startlingly: 'I am asking 800 for the Fire Wheel', he told D. C. Thomson. ⁶⁷

1890: Paris. At the time of the Société des artistes français exhibition a curious mix-up occurred during the selection of pictures by the jury, and apparently a report that Whistler's paintings had first been rejected and then re-instated was published in Galignani. Gérard Harry (fl. 1877-1890) told Whistler what appeared to have happened:

'One of my friends (a "Gentleman of the Jury") ... writes me on the subject and I transcribe his exact words:

"Deux petites toiles passent devant la Jury. On ignore le nom de l'auteur - Les uns, sans considerer, la valeur des oeuvres, les trouvent, néanmoins, de trop peu d'importance! des pochades d'atelier, en somme. les autres, une minorité, reconnaissent ou flairent les fantaisies d'un maître. Elles sont refusées, le lendemain on apprend que ce sont des Whistler et sans difficulté - mais non sans regrets, ou sans remorse, elles sont répêchées. Il s'agit des deux petits feux d'artifice. ["]

... As to who were the blind and who the clear-sighted of the Jurymen, my informant says nothing and it would probably be difficult to get him to say anything.' ⁶⁸

Translation: 'Two small canvasses are put in front of the Jury. The name of the artist is not given - Some, without considering the value of the works, find they are nonetheless not important enough! studio sketches in short. Others, a minority, recognize or suspect the fancies of a master. They are rejected, the next day it is learned that they are Whistlers and without difficulty - but not without regret or remorse, they are fished out. They were the two little fire-works.'

The description of Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel by Gustave Geffroy (1855-1926) at the Paris show in 1890 was detailed and appreciative:

'La Nocturne en noir et or s'élabore au-dessus des pelouses, autour de chevelures d'arbres, au long d'un haut édifice. Des feux courent au raz du gazon, tombent en pluie lumineuse à travers les feuillages, dorent les tours entr'aperçues trouant l'obscurité. Des voiles de deuil s'entrecroisent, de déchirantes lueurs traversent l'espace, le sol frissonne, devient phosphorescent, d'une pâleur verdâtre. C'est infiniment délicat et tendre. Par un prodige de sensitivité et de virtuosité, la nuit reste despotique et mystérieuse, tout en étant clarifiée et pénétrée de lumière.' ⁶⁹

A very rough translation of this poetic description follows:

'The Nocturne in black and gold is developed over the lawns, fringed by trees, beside a tall building. Fires run along the grass, fall like luminous rain through the leaves, gild the towers piercing the darkness. Veils of mourning intersect, heartbreaking glimmers cross the space, the ground trembles, becomes phosphorescent, with a greenish pallor. It is infinitely delicate and tender. By a miracle of sensitivity and virtuosity, the night remains mysterious and despotic, yet clarified and penetrated by light.'

On 2 May 1892 Whistler wrote to D. C. Thomson regarding Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel and Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket: 'The two firework picture[s] are marvellous! - and are wonderful proof of the completeness of those works.' ⁷⁰

1892: London, Paris, Munich.

Due to some confusion about loans to the Paris exhibition in 1892, Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel was sent at the last minute, as a replacement for Nocturne: Grey and Gold - Chelsea Snow y174, which Alfred Chapman (1839-1917) refused to lend, so that Whistler, in a panic, urged D. C. Thomson to pack and send the 'Nocturne Black & Gold the Fire Wheel' by any means possible. ⁷¹ From the Paris office of Goupil's, Maurice Joyant (1864-1930) reported 'J'ai envoyé aujourd'hui au Champ de Mars: 1o. Nocturne - Roue de feu 2o. Marine - Harmonie en bleu et argent'. ⁷² Boussod Valadon & Cie did not think the painting would reproduce well ('la "Roue de Feu" ne donnerait rien en typographie') in 'le Figaro Salon' or its own publication, 'le Salon de 1892'. ⁷³

Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, photograph, 1892, Goupil Album, GUL Whistler PH5/2

The painting had, however, been successfully reproduced for the Goupil Album in London in 1892.

It must have gone straight on from Paris to Munich, being returned, insured at Whistler’s request for £800, after the show ended late in October 1892. ⁷⁴

1893: Chicago, Hamburg, Antwerp.

Whistler suggested the painting might be exhibited in the World's Columbian Exposition, Department of Fine Arts, Chicago, 1893 but it was not included. ⁷⁵ It did, it would seem, go to Hamburg in 1894, and then, after a slight delay, was 'beautifully placed in the Exposition in Antwerp.' ⁷⁶ A newspaper reported that Whistler had insisted his work was not to be exhibited 'near the Burlington House faction': Whistler, however, stated (in a letter possibly intended for publication, but not published): 'I am sending my pictures to Antwerp that they be seen - among my distinguished confreres.' ⁷⁷ Whistler's work was placed 'Hors Concours' owing to rules stating that to be eligible for a medal, works had to have been painted after 1885. ⁷⁸ It was, Whistler told D. C. Thomson, a unique opportunity for a prospective patron to see an important group of his works, including 'the superb "Firewheel".' ⁷⁹

Whistler then suggested sending the painting back to Kennedy in New York for exhibition, after the Antwerp show. ⁸⁰

1897: Stockholm.

The artist Anders Leonard Zorn (1860-1920) and Eugène Napoleon Nicolas Bernadotte (1865-1947), Prince of Sweden and Norway, both visited Whistler's London studio in 1896 and discussed potential loans to the Allmänna konst- och industriutställningen in Stockholm.

Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel was almost certainly the painting shown in Stockholm under the title 'Fyrverkeri' (fireworks); it was lent, with Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl y052 by the generous owner, Arthur Haythorne Studd (1863-1919). ⁸¹ The painting was described by one journalist as 'a night scene which at first captivates the gaze through its impenetrable darkness, but when the eye has acclimated, one sees how a deep blue sky vaults over a city, where thousands of people are in motion to behold a firework.' ⁸²

However, another writer called it 'ett meningslöst färgbizarreri' (meaningless and bizarre) and an American critic said 'it attracts, but few comprehend or feel the beauty of the coloring … It is certainly odd.' ⁸³

Whistler Memorial Exhibition, Boston, 1904, photograph, GUL Whistler PH6/7

1904: Boston.

It appears at upper right in the photograph of the Boston 1904 exhibition reproduced above.

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. 169), plate 152, as 'Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel'.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995 (cat. nos. 723, 910, 1359, 1427).

Authored by Whistler

• Ve Exposition des XX, Société des XX, Brussels, 1888 (cat. no. 2) repr. drawing by Whistler.
• Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 7).
• Goupil Gallery and James McNeill Whistler, Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces [portfolio of photographs published after the Goupil Gallery Exhibition, March-April 1892], London, 1892, repr. pl. 1.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• VII Summer Exhibition, Grosvenor Gallery, London, 1883 (cat. no. 115) as 'Nocturne in Black and Gold – The Great Fire Wheel'.
• Possibly International Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1886 (cat. no. 1399) as 'Nocturne'.
• Possibly Exposition Internationale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, 1887 (cat. no. 212) as 'Nocturne en noir et or'.
• Ve Exposition des XX, Société des XX, Brussels, 1888 (cat. no. 2) as ' "Nocturne en noir et or. No. 2." Souvenir de Cremorne'.
• III. Internationale Kunst-Ausstellung, Königlicher Glaspalast, Munich, 1888 (cat. no. 2455) as 'Nachtstück in Schwarz und Gold: Das Feuerad'.
• “Notes” – “Harmonies” – “Nocturnes”, H. Wunderlich & Co., New York, 1889 (cat. no. 54) as 'Nocturne in Black & Gold – The Fire Wheel'.
• Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure et lithographie des artistes vivants, 105th exhibition, Salon de la Société des artistes français, Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris, 1890 (cat. no. 2440) as 'Nocturne en noir et or'.
• Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 7) as 'Nocturne – Black and Gold / The Fire Wheel'.
• Exposition Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Champ-de-Mars, Paris, 1892 (ex.cat.) as 'Nocturne – Roue de Feu'.
• Große Kunst-Ausstellung des Kunst-Vereins in der Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, 1894.
• Exposition Universelle des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp, 1894 (cat. no. 2370) as 'Nocturne noir et or'.
• Allmänna konst- och industriutställningen, Stockholm, 1897, as 'Fyrverkeri'.
• Twenty-fourth Annual Exhibition, Society of American Artists, New York, 1902, as 'Nocturne, Black and Gold'.
• Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 66) as 'Nocturne in Black and Gold "The Falling Rocket".
• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 65) as 'Nocturne. Noir et or. La roue de feu. (Nocturne. Black and Gold. The Fire Wheel.)'.

Newspapers 1855-1905

• Anon., 'Our London Letter', Bristol Times and Mirror, Bristol, 30 April 1883, p. 3 (syndicated).
• Anon., 'Our London Correspondent', The Ipswich Journal, Ipswich, 1 May 1883, p .2.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery', Pall Mall Gazette, 2 May 1883, p. 4.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery', Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Sheffield, 10 May 1883, p. 4.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery', Dundee Advertiser, Dundee, 25 May 1883, p. 9.
• Anon., 'The Grosvenor Gallery', Daily Telegraph and Courier, London, 27 June 1883, p. 2.
• 'Scandinavia’s Fair', The Chicago Daily Inter Ocean, Chicago, 5 September 1897, p. 35.
• 'Konstutställningen. Internationell konst', Dagens Nyheter, Stockholm, 6 September 1897, p. 3.

Journals 1855-1905

• Bénédite, Léonce, L'Oeuvre de James MacNeill Whistler, Paris, 1905, repr. pl. 37.
• Blackburn, Henry, Grosvenor Notes, London, 1883, p. 29.
• Geffroy, Gustave, 'Le Salon des Champs-Elysées', Revue d'Aujourd'hui, 1 May 1890, pp. 294-95, at p. 295.
• Geffroy, Gustave, 'Salons de 1892', Vie Artistique, vol. 2, 1893, pp. 322-25, at p. 323.
• Graves, Algernon, 'James Abbott McNeill Whistler', Printseller and Print Collector, vol. 1, August 1903, pp. 341-45, at p. 341.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Cary, Elizabeth Luther, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist’s Works, New York, 1907 (cat. no. 66).
• Glazer, Lee, Emily Jacobsen, Blyth McCarthy, and Katherine Roeder, Whistler in Watercolor. Lovely Little Games, Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2019, p. 231, repr. p. 230.
• Pennell, Elizabeth Robins, and Joseph Pennell, The Life of James McNeill Whistler, 2 vols, London and Philadelphia, 1908, vol. 1, p. 228.
• Sickert, Bernhard, Whistler, London and New York, 1908 (cat. no. 66).
• Way, Thomas Robert, and G. R. Dennis, The Art of James McNeill Whistler: An Appreciation, 1st edition, London, 1903, pp. 59-60.

Books, General

• Denney, Colleen, At the Temple of Art: The Grosvenor Gallery, 1877-1890, Madison, NJ, 1999, pp. 111, 113, 116.
• Hobson, G. D., Some Thoughts on the Organisation o f Art after the War, London, [1946], pp. 37-38.
• Ludovici, Anthony, An Artist's Life in London and Paris 1870-1925, New York, 1926, pp. 90-91.
• Maus, Madeleine Octave, Trente Années de lutte pour l'Art 1884-1914, Brussels, 1926, p. 70, repr. drawing by Whistler.
• Spassky, Natalie, with Linda Bantel, Doreen Bolger Burke, Meg Perlman, and Amy L. Walsh, American Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 2, A Catalogue of Works by Artists Born between 1816 and 1845, New York, 1985, p. 367, on Cremorne Gardens, No. 2.

Catalogues 1906-Present

COLLECTION:

• Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: British School, London, 1946, p. 172.

EXHIBITION:

• Young, A. McLaren, James McNeill Whistler, Arts Council Gallery, London, and Knoedler Galleries, New York, 1960 (cat. nos. 34 and 92).
• 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. 56).
• Merrill, Linda, et al., After Whistler: The Artist and His Influence on American Painting, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 2003, pp. 21, 106, 148, 214, repr. fig. 12 (not exhibited).
• Andreeva, Galina, and Margaret F. MacDonald, Whistler and Russia, State Tretyakow Gallery, Moscow, 2006 (cat. no. 13), pp. 114, 183, repr. p. 114.
• Simpson, Marc, 'Whistler, Modernism, and the Creative Afflatus', in Simpson, Marc, Like Breath on Glass: Whistler, Inness, and the Art of Painting Softly, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, 2008, pp. 24-51, at p. 37, pl. 3.
• MacDonald, Margaret F., and Patricia de Montfort, An American in London: Whistler and the Thames, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, 2013; Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, 2014; Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2014 (cat. no. 134).

Journals 1906-Present

• Laughton, Bruce, ‘The British and American contribution to Les XX 1884-93’, Apollo, 86, November 1967, pp. 373-79, at p. 378.
• Stone, Elizabeth Doe, ‘American Art at the 1897 Stockholm Exhibition’, Konsthistorisk tidskrift/Journal of Art History, 2020; DOI: 10.1080/00233609.2020.1848913.

Websites

• Tate website at http://www.tate.org.uk.

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 92) 'Nocturne, black and gold: The fire wheel'.

Other

• Stoner, Joyce Hill, Textured Surfaces: Technique, Facture, and Friendship in the Work of James McNeill Whistler, Ph.D, University of Delaware, 1995.