The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler
YMSM 171
Nocturne
Date
Nocturne may date from the mid-late 1870s, as do most of Whistler's nocturnes, but the sole reference to it is when it was exhibited at the International Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1886 (cat. no. 1399). 1
Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, Tate Britain
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, Detroit Institute of Arts
It is possible that it was either Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169 or Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170.
Images
Nocturne, Whereabouts unknown
Nocturne: Black and Gold – The Fire Wheel, Tate Britain
Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, Detroit Institute of Arts
Subject
Titles
Only one title has been suggested:
- 'Nocturne' (1886, International Exhibition, Edinburgh). 2
- 'Nocturne' (1980, YMSM). 3
Description
A night scene.
Site
Unknown.
Technique
Technique
Unknown.
Conservation History
Unknown.
Frame
Unknown.
History
Provenance
Unknown.
Exhibitions
- International Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1886 (cat. no. 1399) as 'Nocturne'.
Whistler lent two paintings to Edinburgh in 1886 (Arrangement in Black and Brown: The Fur Jacket y181, Arrangement in Yellow and Grey: Effie Deans y183) which had been deposited with the London dealers, H. Graves & Co., as security for money lent him. This Nocturne may also have been borrowed for the occasion from Graves and should perhaps be identified with either Nocturne: Black and Gold - The Fire Wheel y169 or Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket y170.
It was hung too high to make out details, according to a review of the show, 'The Edinburgh International Pictures', Glasgow Herald, 16 August 1886, p. 8
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. 171) as 'Nocturne'.
Authored by Whistler
- None.
Catalogues 1855-1905
- International Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1886 (cat. no. 1399) as 'Nocturne'.
Newspapers 1855-1905
- Anon., 'The Edinburgh International Pictures', Glasgow Herald, Glasgow, 16 August 1886, p. 8.
Journals 1855-1905
- None.
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Unpublished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: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 171).
2: International Exhibition, Edinburgh, 1886 (cat. no. 1399).
3: YMSM 1980 [more] (cat. no. 171).