Provenance

• After 1865: bought by Alexander Ionides (1840-1898), London;
• 1892: sold by Ionides through the Goupil Gallery in Paris to Sebastien-Paul Gallimard (1850-1929), Paris;
• 1900/1901: acquired by Théodore Duret (1838-1927), Paris;
• 1901: bought from Duret through Agnew’s, London art dealers, by Bertha Honoré Palmer (1849-1918);
• 1918: bequeathed to her sons, Honoré Palmer (1874-1964) and Potter Palmer, Jr (1875-1943);
• 1922: presented by Honoré and Potter Palmer, Jr, to the Art Institute of Chicago.

There were problems in establishing this provenance and exhibition history due to the conflicting financial records and varying descriptions and titles used. 1

On 26 October 1865 Whistler wrote from Trouville to his friend Lucas (Luke) Alexander Ionides (1837-1924), 'I am finishing some important pictures which will keep me here until about the 10th of Nov … My picture I think you will like very much.' 2 On his return he undoubtedly showed Trouville seascapes to the Ionides family. Years later Whistler claimed that Alexander Ionides (1840-1898) had bought 'a little Marine with fishing smacks' from him for about £20.0.0 or £30.0.0. 3 This fairly low price suggests a date in the late 1860s, 4 or perhaps in the late 1870s, when Whistler was in financial difficulties.

A painting of 'Fishing Boats' was listed by Whistler as potentially available for exhibition at the Royal Society of British Artists in 1886 or 1887; the owner's name was not included, but the oil was grouped with other paintings owned by Alexander Ionides. 5

In February 1892 Whistler was planning a retrospective exhibition at the Goupil Gallery (Boussod, Valadon & Cie.), and listed:

'Mr. Ionides ... Nocturne Valparaiso - Sea and Rain and yet another small painting of some oyster smacks or fishing boats going out in the evening'. 6

These were Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay [YMSM 076], Sea and Rain [YMSM 065], and the painting in question, Green and Grey: The Oyster Smacks, Evening. Ionides also owned Brown and Silver: Old Battersea Bridge [YMSM 033] at this point. He agreed to lend several of these paintings to Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. nos. 28-31) including Green and Grey: The Oyster Smacks, Evening (cat. no. 29).

In July 1892 David Croal Thomson (1855-1930) of the Goupil Gallery told Whistler that 'the Yacht picture' owned by Ionides had been sold through Maurice Joyant (1864-1930) of Goupil's Paris branch: 'The price obtained for the Yacht picture was very small, only 5,000 fr, but Joyant does not mention the buyer.' 7 At that time 5,000 French francs would have been roughly equivalent to £200.0.0. sterling. In another letter Whistler mentioned that the 'Three Yachts' had been sold by Ionides to 'a man in Paris' for £200.0.0. 8 This is a little confusing, since it mentions only three sailing boats, and describes them as 'yachts'. However, later, Whistler described what appears to be the same painting to his sister-in-law as a 'little sea piece of mine - (some fishing smacks going out in the evening)' sold by Ionides 'to Monsieur Gallimard, for £200'. 9 Much later, in the draft of a letter to Ionides himself, Whistler referred to the 'little picture of the fishing boats that you sold for 200 down.' 10 Again, this is odd, in that Green and Grey: The Oyster Smacks, Evening, the painting under discussion here, is not particularly small. 11

The painting sold by Ionides through Goupil's to Gallimard in 1892 was almost certainly Green and Grey. The Oyster Smacks – Evening, which was lent by Gallimard to an exhibition in St Petersburg, Russia, in 1899, at which time it was reproduced in Mir Iskusstva. 12 Soon afterwards, Gallimard must have sold it to Duret, who in his turn sold it through Agnew's to Mrs Potter Palmer in July 1901, at which point Agnew's recorded it as 'The Silver Sea (Grey and Silver)'.

Exhibitions

• 1892: probably Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, Goupil Gallery, London, 1892 (cat. no. 29) as 'Green and Grey. The Oyster Smacks – Evening'.
• 1899 1st World of Art Exhibition, Schtiglitz School, Saint Petersburg, 1899 (cat. no. 280) as 'Marina' (Marine).
• 1904: Oil Paintings, Water Colors, Pastels and Drawings: Memorial Exhibition of the Works of Mr. J. McNeill Whistler, Copley Society, Boston, 1904 (cat. no. 12) as 'Grey and Green. Marine'.
• 1905: Œuvres de James McNeill Whistler, Palais de l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris, 1905 (cat. no. 63) as 'Grey and Green. Marine'.

It is likely that this painting was exhibited in 1892 as Green and Grey: The Oyster Smacks, Evening, when, in a review of Whistler's retrospective exhibition, it was praised by the Lady's Pictorial: 'The grey sails on a grey sea are pleasantly restful.' 13 This is an appropriate if rather minimal description. The quotation selected by Whistler for his catalogue entry in 1892 was from the Academy: 'Other people paint localities; Mr. Whistler makes artistic experiments.' After the Goupil show, Whistler immediately wanted to borrow it for exhibition in Munich but this was not arranged, probably because it had changed ownership. 14 It was also listed for possible inclusion in the Goupil Album published after the show, but although it may well have been photographed with the other paintings at this time, it was not published in the album. 15

In 1899 Sebastien-Paul Gallimard lent his marine to the important 1st World of Art Exhibition in Saint Petersburg. There were almost no reviews of Whistler's exhibits. The influential art critic Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov denigrated the works selected for the show by Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), including Whistlers two paintings, Blue and Coral: The Little Blue Bonnet [YMSM 500] and Gallimard's marine:

'Of the English [sic], Whistler is represented by two small canvases – 'Blue Girl' and 'Marine', but they are both so colourless and insignificant that without captions no-none would ever guess that these were things by the self same Whistler who is so renowned for his colour! Was it really worth bringing such nonentities from afar?' 16

Incidentally Blue and Coral: The Little Blue Bonnet at 81.2 x 68.5 cm (32 x 27") is hardly 'small'.

Both Blue and Coral: The Little Blue Bonnet and the marine were reproduced in Мир искусства [Mir Iskusstva, 'World of Art'] in 1899. 17 Although the owners of the two paintings were not named in the article in Mir Iskusstva, the reproduction helps to confirm the identity of the marine as the one bought by Gallimard in 1892, after it had likely been exhibited as Green and Grey. The Oyster Smacks – Evening in the same year. The photographs in Mir Iskusstva were mostly sourced from Whistler. Several, such as Symphony in Grey and Green: The Ocean [YMSM 072], had been photographed for Nocturnes, Marines & Chevalet Pieces, a portfolio of photographs published after the Goupil Exhibition in 1892, although not all those photographed at that time, including Green and Grey. The Oyster Smacks – Evening, were actually included in the album. 18