The Paintings of James McNeill Whistler

Date

The Canal, Amsterdam dates from 1889.

The Canal, Amsterdam, The Hunterian

Whistler and his wife travelled to Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, in September 1889, and stayed there for two months. ¹

Images

Subject

Titles

Whistler's original title is not known. Later titles vary only in punctuation:

• 'The Canal. Amsterdam' (1905, Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Paris). ²
• 'The Canal – Amsterdam' (1936, University of Glasgow). ³
• 'The Canal, Amsterdam' (1980, YMSM). ⁴

The title was regularised to conform with other titles in 1980, so that, 'The Canal, Amsterdam', is the generally accepted title.

Description

The Canal, Amsterdam, The Hunterian

A city-scape in horizontal format, showing the view across a narrow canal, with houses parallel to the frame. The lower two storeys of several houses are shown, with washing hanging out to dry. Several figures are visible on the balcony over the water to left of centre, and framed in the opening onto the canal. The building is reflected in the water.

Site

This is a view of the Oudeszijdskolk, in Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, with the back of the buildings on Sint Olofsteeg, in the city's red-light district. ⁵

The Square House, Amsterdam, etching and drypoint, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46641

As well as completing more than a dozen etchings, Whistler worked on several watercolour sketches and at least two small oil panels during their visit. Two of the etchings, The Square House, Amsterdam [454] and The Dance House: Nocturne [455] show the same scene. ⁶

Comments

An oil by Arthur Haythorne Studd (1863-1919), Steps in Venice, may have been painted with knowledge of this work. ⁷

Technique

Technique

The Canal, Amsterdam, The Hunterian, GLAHA 46343

It is on a thin softwood panel. The grain of the wood runs horizontally across the width of the panel. A thin mid-grey priming was applied with noticeable brush strokes parallel to the long edge. This priming was used as a mid-tone in some areas. The scene was sketched in detail with a grey crayon-like material (possibly conté crayon) on the panel. The line of washing on the right was twice drawn higher up. The reflections were painted freely, not drawn. ⁸

The thinned paint was applied thinly, with the exception of local spots of bright colour, mainly red. These spots were balanced across the composition, one bright turquoise one being overpainted in brown to reduce its impact. The rich red of the clothes illuminates the almost monochromatic grey-brown range of the rest of the panel.

The paint was rubbed to soften and blur reflections in the water, and scraped lightly over the housefront to convey the textures of the rickety wooden balconies. The brushwork is less fluid than in the panels of the earlier 1880s, but the simple design, subtle textures, and rich colour are very effective.

Conservation History

The panel has an auxiliary framing device of a mahogany-type backboard, and adhered 5-6 mm wide battens on all sides, with mitred corners. The battens are slightly misaligned on one side, and the batten at the lower edge is springing free of the panel. ⁹ Stuck on the verso of this support panel is a label giving the title and address of Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958). This suggests that this form of auxiliary backing was done after Whistler's death, for exhibition in the 1905 memorial exhibition.

The panel is otherwise in good condition, as is the paint, except where it has been abraded by the frame. It may be that the varnish – in fact probably two layers of varnish – was added after Whistler's death, and it is now discoloured and slightly yellowed. ¹⁰

Frame

38.2 x 47.3 x 7.2 cm.

History

Provenance

• 1903: in Whistler's studio at his death and bequeathed to his ward and executrix, Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958);
• 1935: given by Miss R. Birnie Philip to the University of Glasgow.

Exhibitions

• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 85) as 'The Canal. Amsterdam'.

No exhibition in Whistler's life time is known. It was lent anonymously (by Miss Rosalind Birnie Philip) to the Whistler Memorial exposition in Paris in 1905.

By the terms of Miss Birnie Philip's gift to the University of Glasgow, it is not lendable.

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. 384), plate 228, as 'The Canal, Amsterdam'.

Authored by Whistler

• None.

Catalogues 1855-1905

• Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 85) as 'The Canal. Amsterdam'.

Journals 1855-1905

• None.

Monographs

• None.

Books on Whistler

• Anderson, Ronald, and Ann Koval, James McNeill Whistler: Beyond the Myth, London, 1994, p. 311.
• Cary, Elizabeth Luther, The Works of James McNeill Whistler: A Study, with a Tentative List of Artist’s Works, New York, 1907, p. 193 (cat. no. 227).
• Sickert, Bernhard, Whistler, London and New York, 1908, p. 172 (cat. no. 159).
• Heijbroek, J. F., and Margaret F. MacDonald, Whistler and Holland, Zwolle and Amsterdam, 1997, pp. 66-71.
• Spencer, Robin (ed.), Whistler: A Retrospective, New York, 1989, repr. pl. 94.

Books, General

• Greenwood, A. G., Arthur Studd 1863-1919. His life and work, Cambridge University Fine Arts Tripos, 1968, p. vii, plate 60 (painting by Studd).

Catalogues 1906-Present

• James McNeill Whistler, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, 1936 (cat. no. 10).
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Whistler: The Graphic Work: Amsterdam, Liverpool, London, Venice, Agnew's, London, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, and Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, 1976 (cat. no. 110) (not exhibited).
• MacDonald, Margaret F., Whistler Pastels and Related Works in the Hunterian Art Gallery, Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, 1984, p. 7 (not exhibited).
• Hopkinson, Martin, From Apprentice to Master:Whistler's Graphic Art, Hunterian Art Gallery, Glasgow, 1992 (cat. no. 51).
• McNamara, Carol, and John Siewert, Whistler: Prosaic Views, Poetic Vision, exhibition catalogue, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1996, p. 135, repr. fig. 56a (not exhibited).

Journals 1906-Present

• Heijbroek, J. F., 'Holland van het water: de bezoeken van James Abbott McNeill Whistler aan Nederland', Bulletin Rijksmuseum, 1988, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 225-56, at pp. 243-245, 275, repr. fig. 43.

Websites

• The Hunterian website at http://collections.gla.ac.uk/#/details/ecatalogue/41137.
• ArtUK website at http://artuk.org.
• Margaret F. MacDonald, Grischka Petri, Meg Hausberg, and Joanna Meacock, James McNeill Whistler: The Etchings, a catalogue raisonné, University of Glasgow, 2012, website at http://etchings.arts.gla.ac.uk (G.454 and 455).

Unpublished

• Revillon, Joseph Whistler, Draft Catalogue Raisonné of the Paintings of J. McN. Whistler, [ca 1945-1955], Glasgow University Library (cat. no. 360).

Other

• None.